This is the sixth of Robert Taylor's books of paintings and is as good as the previous five. The period covered is from World War I (only two pictures alas) to Kosovo. There are sixty paintings (many of which have not appeared in Taylor's previous books), selected by Colonel Don Lopez, Deputy Director of The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, and although the largest number are from World War II there is commendably no bias towards any one participating nationality. Each painting has a personal narrative describing the research that preceded its production. I like the fact that, as the artist says, 'You can remove the aircraft in most of my paintings and there should be something of interest remaining to look at'.

Robert Taylor is widely regarded as the world's foremost aviation artist, and this book, beautifully produced on good paper, shows why. He is also a Bath boy!