Michael Napier (1)

Despite its coverage of such wide span of decades, Michael Napier really delivers a superior product in this volume. The author covers a wide range of topics as befits the title, some of which are fairly well-known (such as Berlin, 1961) to the fairly unknown (the status of several air forces immediately after World War II). Napier's coverage also has some depth, which is to be commended for diving into such a broad topic.

Logically, the book is arranged chronologically in roughly five year segments, thereunder by NATO or Warsaw Pact, and then geographically by NATO or Warsaw Pact sector. The bulk of the text is devoted to listing aviation units stationed in their particular sectors, their assigned missions within NATO or the Warsaw Pact, and their aircraft. Napier explains each nation's air order of battle, using the country's own language to name the air force's organization. As a bonus, Napier includes a section late in the book providing similar coverage to Europe's neutrals: Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Albania. The author also provides an appendix that lists the air order of battle for NATO and Warsaw Pact nations in decade increments starting in 1955 and ending in 1985. The lists may or may not include unit aircraft at the time.

Napier's background as a Royal Air Force pilot are apparent as he includes short sections about specific Cold War pilot experiences, such as a German Tornado pilot's account of a nuclear strike practice mission or a Swedish Viggen pilot's experience in escorting a wayward USAF SR-71.

The author does not dive too deeply into matters of strategy and tactics, although he does offer some tidbits. An example would be the revelation that the Soviets pushed the SA-5 Gammon (Soviet designation S-200) into East Germany to threaten NATO high value targets such as the E-3 Sentry or air tanker assets. I'm sure one reason for the limitation is to keep this book to a reasonable length. The author does touch on nuclear matters to some extent, but not to the depth that the topic deserves. NATO/Warsaw Pact nuclear strategy is still a touchy subject three decades after the end of the Cold War, but it was also a significant contributor to force structure and weapons system development. My experience with U.S./NATO declassification practices informs me that there's a lot more declassified information out there, but then, that would be a subject worthy of its own book.

All in all this book was a fine read for me. There were some errors in the Kindle edition I read where photos were duplicated and/or captions reversed. Also the use of NATO reporting names for Soviet/Warsaw Pact aircraft and missiles was inconsistent. However, Napier's writing is crisp and well-focused and the images are well selected to represent equipment and nations.… (meer)