Ley Reynolds ​ ZERSTORER - the Combat History of the Messerschmitt 110 in 1940 by John Vasco and Peter Cornwell, Wingleader Ltd, RRP about $110 This impressive tome - 304 pages, 400+ b/w period photo's and tables of every Bf 110 lost or damaged on operations between January and December 1940 - was first published in 1995 and has now been updated with the benefit of more research in the intervening 30 years. John Vasco is a well known "Bf 110 tragic", so the information contained herein is extensive and accurate. The book is divided into chapters on the Phoney War, Scandanavia, the Development of Nightfighters, Battle of France, Channel Battles and three on the Battle of Britain; and appendices on Unit Emblems, Bf 110 Variants used in 1940, Bf 110 Specification, RAE Examination of the Type and a Biography of Walter Rubensdorffer (Google for more info') The narrative is a detailed day by day description of Bf 110 operations for the period based largely on interviews with the few surviving German crews and Luftwaffe records, but with added details from Armee de l'Air records and RAF records. The result is an engrossing story of initial success and later total disaster, which highlights some information this reviewer had not seen before - eg. the Luftwaffe started the Battle of France with about 4000 aircraft in total including 355 Bf 110's; from 10th May to 25th June the Armee de l'Air, usually described as virtually totally inadequate, alone destroyed about 1000 of these, a loss rate of 25% in 6 weeks (did nobody in the Luftwaffe Command think this could be a problem further down the track?). Based as it is on German sources, the text is notably sympathetic to them - eg crew losses are often described as "tragic" - and the authors go to some length claiming the Bf 110 to have been a successful long-range fighter and fighter-bomber, not an opinion widely shared in other literature. They even claim the "defensive circle", mentioned many times over Britain, as an "offensive manoeuvre" - something this reviewer cannot envisage. On a few occasions they seem to be burnishing "Nazi arse-licking' credentials - eg German crews were badly treated by Polish troops on capture because of "alleged" German atrocities in Poland; on one day in early September the Luftwaffe lost 44 aircraft and the RAF 24, but the latter was now "facing serious attrition"; and by late September the Luftwaffe had "virtual daylight aerial supremacy over southern Britain", without opining why Sealion was never seriously considered. These caveats aside, this title is recommended, especially for anyone interested in the Bf 110 and/or aerial operations in the first years of WW2. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------