This is a monster of a book and one that deserves the highest accolades for the quantity and quality of information that it contains.

The title suggests that both wars are detailed but the authors, wisely, give only less than seven pages to Word War One. Ray Vann and Colin Waugh provided detailed information on the presentation aircraft of that conflict in Cross & Cockade International Vol 14/2 and repetition would be un-necessary. The authors content themselves by giving a listing of presentation names and the machines (by type and number only) associated with each.

That should not deter members from considering buying this book. It begins with a background to the presentation scheme itself and the locations of donors. The reasons for Spitfires being the preferred presentation aircraft are explained and then detailed individual histories are given for some fifteen hundred machines, by presentation name. Unlike the previous conflict, a presentation name was only applied to one airframe and when that machine was struck off charge the name disappeared. Three hundred pages are devoted to these individual histories and these are followed by listings that cross reference to serial number and alphabetical order.

Smaller numbers of other types were also presentation machines, the Hurricane being the next most popular. Some unlikely types also featured, including an Auster, at least one Anson and a Grumman Goose.

The quality and size of photographic reproduction is good, enabling scrutiny of the airframes and markings illustrated. The sixteen colour pages include eight of colour profiles, six of associated memorabilia and two of photographs.