Make bird watching in Ohio even more enjoyable! With Stan Tekiela’s famous field guide; bird identification is simple and informative. There’s no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don’t live in Ohio. This book features 111 species of Ohio birds; organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don’t know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Fact-filled information; a compare feature; range maps; and detailed photographs help to ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.
#361091 in Books US Naval Institute Press 2016-12-15Original language:English 11.50 x 1.40 x 10.00l; 2.86 #File Name: 159114616X466 pagesUS Naval Institute Press
Review
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Somewhat Flawed; But Still FascinatingBy Daryl CarpenterNorman Friedman is one of those naval historians who; even in his weaker moments; I've always enjoyed reading. His recent book on British battleships seriously impressed me; and buying the newest Friedman tome when it's hot off the presses has become something of a November tradition for me. His books are NOT beach reads - they take a serious investment to complete; but are generally worth it for the serious naval buff.As usual; Dr. Friedman is on the ball when it comes to describing the particulars of arcane naval topics; and explaining it to us lowly civilians. The parts of this book focusing on fleet air defense; fighter control; CAP and interception tactics; and carrier design; are surprisingly revealing and in-depth; without becoming TOO detailed to process. The scope of this work and the depth of the research is pretty impressive; to say the least; with much of the book sourced from previously classified and/or obscure BuAer and British Admiralty files. There's quite a bit of fascinating material here; especially the parts focusing on the development of surface ship fighter-direction systems; the problem of dealing with saturation attacks; and the evolution of Airborne Early Warning system and the F-14. Basically; the kind of stuff us armchair naval historians crave.Unfortunately; "Fighters over the Fleet" is somewhat of a disappointment. It's a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde affair; two-thirds of it is excellent; the other third is rather dull. Truthfully; I would give it 3.5 stars if I could; there's too much good material here to slap it with three stars; but too many flaws to place it amongst top-tier Friedman. After an excellent first 175 pages focusing on the birth of fleet air defense; WWII CAP tactics; and the basics of fighter and engine design; the middle third turns into a rather tedious slog. The chapter on the design and development of early naval jet fighters is probably the dullest Friedman I've ever read. There's page after page of combat radiuses; stall speeds; project designations; radar and engine specifications; and bureaucratic infighting; without much glue to hold things together. Although Norman Friedman has provided the reader handy data tables in the past; this information is provided in narrative form. Even this certified military history geek found my eyes occasionally glazing over. I wish I still had my copy of Tommy Thomason's "U.S. Naval Air Superiority;" which covered the same subject with greater clarity and flair.Thankfully; things pick up immensely around page 275; and the book ends with an excellent explanation of the Outer Air Battle strategy of the 1980s. Dr Friedman has long been the master of explaining succinctly how modern warships are designed and function; but I'm afraid he may have bitten off more than he could chew shifting his focus to naval warplanes. His "Illustrated Design History" of American aircraft carriers; published back in 1983; flowed a lot better; and felt a whole lot more focused. Too bad there isn't a revised edition which combines the best elements of that book with this one.I'm still going to give "Fighters over the Fleet" a recommendation; with somewhat serious reservations. Although it suffers from a serious case of second act slump; it still provides a thorough; in-depth portrait of fleet air defense; at least from the British and American perspectives. There's a lot of really fascinating and engaging reading here; provided you're willing to get through the middle third.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Up to snuff as usualBy Christian P. MercerFriedman is always up to snuff; excellent research; well compounded data ( that is well written) and good photographs with excellent and relevant captioning in every one of the books I own. I spent 3 hours reading the book yesterday as soon as I got it; I actually wished for more statistics and comparison between various platforms but that's not really the scope of the book ( aircraft; gun and ship data is sparse); it is more on the history of operational theory; evolution and practice regarding surface group defense; indeed it has nothing at all about attacking an enemy formation with a carrier air wing except in incidentally how to defend against that or what was tried at various times. Its a very well done book but not exactly what I wanted still its highly informative and I am just as pleased with it.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Friedman StudyBy NostromoAs a long time civilian naval enthusiast I have always considered Norman Friedman`s long run of USN Ship classes design histories the " Gold Standard" of serious published works; so I was interested and excited to see his view on Carrier Aviation in a large format; long page count; very high production quality USNI hardcover book; and this is all of that; at a very reasonable price.Some of the issues that detracted from the early printing editions of the now very old design histories of the Battleships; Carrier Cruisers; have been fixed here. Illustrations are clear and crisp; paper is a good weight and coated.Very highly recommended.
