The World Encyclopedia of Bombers: An Illustrated History from the Early Planes of World War 1 to the Sophisticated Jet Bombers of the Modern Age

My 16th year old son really enjoys this book.

I bought this volume from an air museum in Alameda County (where I was born) and I pretty much enjoyed it. While the B-17, B-24, B-25, B-29, B-52, B-2, B-1B, Lancaster, Halifax, Tu-95, F-117, Stirling, He 111 and Ju 87 are the most well known aircraft discussed in the volume, the book also includes some lesser known bombardment planes like the He 177, Manchester, F.223, and some Japanese bomber aircraft apart from the G4M Betty. The author, following the format he employed for his previous book on fighter planes, first discusses the history of bomber aircraft, then proceeds to create encyclopedic sections for pre-1945 and post-1945 bomber aircraft.Odd as it may seem, the Il-2 Shturmovik, S-3 Viking, Su-25, and A-10 Thunderbolt II as included in the book, even though these planes were not intended for bombardment but for ground attack, ASW, among other purposes. The book also leaves out the B-32 Dominator, Su-24 swing-wing bomber, Su-17, and Tu-16.While it's well known that the B-17, B-24, B-29, Lancaster, Halifax, and Stirling all helped usher in the world in which we live in, with vibrant democracies in Germany, Italy, and Japan, but also the persistence of NATO, it's astounding that the B-52, A-10, B-2, and other in-service bomber aircraft have been able to adapt to the post-Cold War world).