CESKOSLOVENSK NIEUPORTY (Czechoslovakian Nieuports), by Zdenek Cejka, Historick Sesity, Prague, 2000; 12 pp., 11-3/4" x 8-1/4", softcover, photos, line drawings, color profiles and appendices; $5.00 for U.S. orders, $4.00 in Europe; available from the author: Zdenek Cejka, Klimentsk 32, 11000 Praha 1, Czech Republic.
The widespread use of Nieuport aircraft beyond the World War I battlefronts is exemplified in this interesting monograph from the Czech Republic. It traces the use of aircraft by the Czechoslovak Army Corps in Russia from March 1918 through the formation of the Czechoslovak Air Force in the post-war period.
The story of the use of these French aircraft in seldom-noted air battles is interesting and well told, as evidenced by the English-language translation insert edited by the ever-productive Colin Owers. Author Zdenek Cejka, a member of Czechoslovak Aviation Historical Society (as well as the League of World War I Aviation Historians), has undertaken to fill a gap in aviation history by beginning a series of monographs, of which this treatment of Czechoslovakian Nieuports is the first.
The photographs of Nieuport 10, 17, 21, 23 and 27 aircraft are sure to be new to Western European and American Hemisphere readers, and the color 'profile' type drawings on the outside cover will be a special treat for modellers. Photo details and excellent endnotes make this monograph a solid addition to any early 20th century aviation historian's bookshelf.
The author has a keen interest in aviation units of the Czechoslovak legions in Russia in 1918 and 1919, Czechoslovak airmen who flew with French units from 1914 through 1919, and post-World War I Czechoslovak aviation developments. All are subjects long in need of wider coverage and, based on the example of Cejka's inaugural monograph, they are sure to be well presented in this series and are most worthy of Over The Frontreaders' support and encouragement.
In a few words: buy this monograph!
submitted by Peter Kilduff
