Press Release

Military books

February, 2012

Higgins PT Boat

Andrew Jackson Higgins's New Orleans boat-building firm, Higgins Industries, constructed numerous vessels for the US war effort during World War II. Among these were 78-foot Patrol Torpedo (PT) boats. While not as well-publicized as the 80-foot Elco PT boats, the 209 boats built by Higgins fought alongside their New Jersey-constructed counterparts, earning a reputation for ruggedness in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific. This profusely-illustrated volume showcases the details of Higgins PTs preserved in Massachusetts, Texas, and even an operational example in Oregon - the sole operational World War II PT in its original configuration. More than 80 color photographs of these preserved vessels are augmented by nearly 40 vintage photos illustrating rarely seen fine details of the wooden shipbuilders' craft. Illustrated with over 120 photographs. Doyle; 80 pages.

B29 Walk Around

Equipped with pressurized cabins for high-altitude effectiveness, with an electronic fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine gun turrets, the B-29 Superfortress was the most advanced aircraft of WWII. Two of those planes, the Superfortresses Enola Gay and Bockscar, dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Yet over all, the B-29 received less notoriety than its storied elder siblings, the B-17 and B-24, perhaps because its service areas - the China, Burma, and India Theater and the Western Pacific - were less publicized than was the war in Europe. Designed by Boeing, nearly 4,000 B-29s had been turned out by the time production ended in 1946. Yet today, only a few meticulously restored and preserved examples of the historic aircraft survive. A unique look at the plane that ushered in the nuclear age. Illustrated with over 210 photographs. Savage; 80 pages.