Gamble and Gain
Nimrod’s Genesis: RAF Maritime Patrol Projects and Weapons since 1945
buy prednisone 5 mg online by Chris Gibson, Hikoki Publications, $49.95
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This book is a specimen of an aviation genre upon which the Brits seem to have a stranglehold: aircraft that never were. The books are enticing because their hallmarks—quality printing, excellent photographic reproduction, integrated design, and numerous line drawings—are focused on capturing the reader’s and purchaser’s attention. They do this very well. That they are printed in China is more a statement of the cost of similar endeavors in the West than it is of the derived quality in the East.
Unlike historical fiction for things that never were, this category of aviation literature has a very valid substrate: the furtherance of the aeronautical art. Aviation blind alleys can actually lead to hardware. Hence aircraft vaporware is worthy of study and reportage.
The issue with such books is how far to push the defining boundaries. Nimrod’s Genesis may be just on the edge. Subtitled “RAF Maritime Patrol Projects and Weapons since 1945,” this is 222 pages of unbridled decadence for the minutiae loving aviation buff. Yes, it is an acquired taste, and on the surface may not appeal to yours. It certainly didn’t mine. But author Chris Gibson knows how to reel you in.
The opening chapter isn’t even about aircraft. It concisely sets the stage for subsequent chapters by painting a picture of the “enemy,” the Soviet/Russian Navy, and in particular its submarines. This he follows with a chapter on sensors, how they work, the tactics required for each, and weapons used to counter targets. All these are very well illustrated. Explanatory graphics are clear, concise, and informative. The subsequent chapters about the aircraft begin with the end of World War II and flying boat projects and continue through short- and medium-range maritime reconnaissance, long-range land planes, NATO and the so-called Trinity three-in-one project, and continue chronologically to today.
Gibson’s writing is focused, there are no distracting side trips into unrelated matters. There is a flow to his work that is easy for the reader to follow and one often leaves a chapter with the thought that “I didn’t know that,” or “That makes sense.”
My only criticism with this book—and it applies to the entire genre—is that they tease you with such interesting drawings and sketches and leave you wanting because they are too small to be of real value other than to illustrate a shape.
I would not have gambled on the subject. It is too far removed from my comfort zone. But I would have lost by not picking it up.
Nimrod’s Genesis is available from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or www.specialtypress.com.
Reviewed June 2015
