The book "American Secret Aircraft: Fighters 1938-1945" is a 100,000-word in-depth review of both U.S. Army Air Corps/Forces and U.S. Navy fighter projects. The book has many never-before-seen photos. It is written by widely respected author William Norton, who has authored a number of previous titles for Specialty Press in the past.
In answer to your questions, I'm taking the liberty of pasting the detailed table of contents below:
Chapter 1 Background to Growth x
Pent-up Capability x
March of Progress x
Weapon Moves x
Systems Complexity x
Engine Challenges x
Speed Limit x
Jets Emerge x
Hard Lessons x
Shifting Plans x
Army Struggles x
Navy Steam x
Chapter 2 Navy Fighter Bazaar x
Core Competency (F3F) x
Unfit for Duty (F2A) x
Hard Worker (F4F, FM) x
Late Bloomer (F4U, FG, F3A) x
Staunchness (F6F, FV) x
Variants and Deviants x
Wildcat Litters (experimental F4Fs & F2Ms) x
Corsair Rarities (experimental F4Us & FGs, F2G) x
Hellcat Vigor (experimental F6Fs) x
Last But Not Least x
Feline Twins (F7F) x
Worthy But Too Late (F8F, F3M) x
Chapter 3 Army Fighter Clan x
Gene Pool x
Breed for Speed (P-35, P-41, P-43, P-44) x
Steady Pace of Progress (P-36, P-37, P-42) x
Family Tree x
Older Brother (P-40) x
Stunted (P-39, P-63, P-400, P-45) x
Maverick (P-38, P-322) x
Big Guy (P-47) x
Over Achiever (P-51, P-78) x
Misfits x
Sharing Among Friends (Spitfire) x
For the Foreign Crowd x
Weak Sister (SW-21, SW-22) x
Quick Change (NA models, A-27, P-64) x
Get What You Pay For (V-48, P-66) x
Chapter 4 Army Miscreants x
Missing Links (P-40 variants) x
Cross Dressing x
Look Alike (P-46) x
Misdirection (P-53) x
Cavalcade (P-60) x
End of the Line (P-62) x
Cobra Strikes (P-39 & P-63 variants, P-76) x
Lightning Flashes (experimental P-38s) x
Thunder Echoes (experimental P-47s) x
Mustang Strays (P-51 variants) x
Chapter 5 Navy Heavy Lifting x
The Scout-Bomber Fades x
Legacy x
Two for One (SBC) x
Last Legs (SB2U, V-156) x
In the Way (SBN) x
Ole’ Faithful (SBD) x
Tough Row (SB2C) x
Helldiver Miss (SB2C-6) x
Sour Brew (SB2A) x
Near Miss (SB2D) x
Infant Mortality (SB3C) x
Torpedo-Bomber Saga x
Sparse Stable (TBD, TBF) x
Old School (TBD) x
Rough ‘n Tumble (TBF & TBM) x
Avenger Theme (TBF/M variants) x
The Almost-Ran (TBU, TBY) x
Clean Miss (TBV) x
Good in Concept (TB2D) x
Miscues (TB2F, TSF) x
Last Gasp (TB3F) x
Chapter 6 Army Aberrations x
Misbegotten – Bomber-Destroyers x
First Out the Gate (FM) x
Swings of the Pendulum (P-58) x
Escort Reach x
A Good Try (P-75) x
Radical But Practical (P-82) x
Missed Goal: Single-Seat Twins x
Left Behind (P-49) x
Army Dance (P-50, P-65) x
Appearances Can Be Deceiving (P-67) x
Size Does Not Matter (P-71) x
Chapter 7 Army Experimentals x
Queer Company x
Into Limbo (P-52, P-59) x
Weight Gain (P-54) x
Just Out of Reach (P-55, CW 24B) x
Monstrosity (P-56, N-1M) x
Stretching x
Largess (P-61E) x
Engine Bottleneck (P-68, P-69, P-72) x
Quest for the Light Fighter x
Less Filling (P-48) x
Sales Job (P-57) x
Overcome by Events (P-77) x
Chapter 8 Navy Experimentals x
Reaching x
Crossbreed (FL) x
First Twin (F5F) x
Flash in the Pan (F14C) x
Odd Balls (V-173, F5U) x
Mixing Missions x
Singularity from Seattle (F8B) x
Near-Run Things (BTD) x
Try and Try Again (BTC) x
Near Miss (BTM) x
Out of Left Field (BK, BTK) x
Longevity (BT2D) x
Last Roll of the Dice (BT2C) x
Chapter 9 Army Attack Diversion x
Saga Defined x
Might Have Been x
Old Reliable (A-17, A-33) x
No Future (A-18) x
The Few (A-19) x
Dressing for the Party x
Keeps Going (A-24) x
Tough (A-36) x
Misfires x
The Unwanted (A-31 & A-35) x
Wrong Path (A-25) x
No Way (A-34) x
Attacker cum Bomber x
Trying Hard (A-32) x
Infanticide (A-39) x
Never Mind (A-40) x
Fine Specimen (A-41) x
Swift Twins (A-37, P-73, A-38) x
Forget It (A-37, P-73) x
Pinocchio (A-38) x
Chapter 10 Night Fighting x
Emerging from the Lab x
Army Hustle x
Scrambling x
Ersatz Solution (P-70) x
Making Do (B-25, P-38) x
Strangers in a Strange Land (Beaufighter, Mosquito) x
Loose End (A-26A) x
Better Late Than Never (P-61) x
Spider Bites (P-61 variants) x
Late Arrival (P-38M) x
Navy Course x
Sea Change x
Air-to-Air Assets x
Better Than Nothing (PV-1) x
Late Start (F4U variants) x
Prime Time (F6F variants) x
Too Late to Place (F7F & F8F variants) x
AEW Appears (TBM-3W) x
Air-to-Ground Assets x
Raptors (SBD, SB2U, SB2A, SB2C, TBF/M, TBY,
F6F variants) x
ASW Contribution (TBF/M & SB variants) x
Chapter 11 Jets – First Blush x
Engine Facilitators x
Mother of Invention x
Old World Examples x
America Steps Up x
Turn ‘n Burn x
Incipient x
Army Leads Off (P-59A, P-80) x
Cautious Navy Steps (F2L, FD, FR) x
Chapter 12 Jets – Full Bore x
Pubescence x
Army Follow-up (P-84, P-86) x
Navy Strides (F2D, FJ, F6U) x
Over-Exuberance x
Beating & Mixing (F15C, F2R, P-81) x
Escort Challenge (P-83, P-85) x
Rocket Option (MX-324, MX-334, P-79, P-79B) x
Bibliography x
Index x
Author’s Biography x
