The Spanish Civil War in the Air: The Two-Volume Bundle

Save 40% on both volumes of The Spanish Civil War in the Air.

Explore the aerial conflict over Spain with this illustrated collection by Eduardo Manuel Gil Martinez and Juan Arráez Cerdá. From the improvised operations of July 1936 to the final campaigns of 1939, these two volumes examine how Republican and Nationalist aviation developed, and how foreign intervention transformed the struggle in the skies.

Volume 1: 1936–1937 follows the opening stages of the war, as Spain’s ageing aircraft were supplemented and replaced by more modern foreign machines. It explores the air bridge from Spanish Morocco to the mainland, the arrival of Germany’s Condor Legion and Italy’s Aviazione Legionaria, and Soviet aircraft supplied to the Republic. Coverage of the fighting over Madrid and the Basque country reveals the growing importance of air power, while accounts of Spanish and foreign pilots bring the men behind the machines into focus. Aircraft including the Fiat CR.32, Polikarpov I-15 and I-16, and early Messerschmitt Bf 109s illustrate a period of rapid technological and tactical change.

Volume 2: 1938–1939 examines the increasingly intense air war during the conflict’s final years. As Republican access to bases, manufacturing facilities and imported aircraft diminished, the Nationalists continued to receive advanced German and Italian equipment. The volume explores fighter battles, ground-attack operations, support for naval warfare and the expansion of strategic bombing against cities, industry, ports and communications. It also follows the transition to Spain’s post-war air force and examines the fate of aircraft and personnel who had taken part in the conflict.

Historical photographs, maps, tables and specially commissioned colour artwork by Jean-Marie Guillou illustrate the aircraft, insignia and emblems of the participants. Together, the volumes offer a detailed collection for aviation enthusiasts, military modellers and readers interested in the Spanish Civil War and the development of air warfare before the Second World War.

Discover the aircraft, people and campaigns of Spain’s air war—and save 40% with this two-volume bundle.