Eagle of Trieste Volume 1: The Man and His Aircraft: Gottfried von Banfield and the Naval Air War Over the Northern Adriatic in WWI Paperback – February 9, 2018

Since receiving a copy of Joseph Phelan’s “Heroes & Aeroplanes of the Great War” in the late 1960’s as a boy, I have been fascinated by First World War aviation and seaplanes in particular. I have been collecting books on Austro Hungarian aviation from Dr. O’Connor’s “Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire” to Ciglic’s “Seaplanes of the Bocche” with a number of “Windsock Datafiles,” issues of “Cross and Cockade” and “Over the Front” not to mention Schupita’s “Die kuk Seeflieger” in between, so believe me, you are really getting a treasure chest packed with gems in this volume and there is even more in the companion volume.Dr. Wilberg provides a serviceable biography of Gottfried von Banfield who was a true knight of the air and aviation pioneer as well as the last nobleman of Trieste and the Austro Hungarian Empire, in addition to describing the unique developments in maritime and military aviation in the Adriatic campaign including strategic bombing, not just a large plane used as a bomber, but big bombers bombing. However the book’s real trove are the “unbelievable” amount of photographs, color profiles, postcards, medals, memorabilia and aviation art, a number of which I had not seen before. And you get not just Banfield’s and his fellow airmen’s aircraft but many of the Italian and allied adversaries as well including an American Medal of Honor recipient. You are getting hundreds of dollar’s and lifetimes’ of collections worth of material in this one book, and there is even more in the second volume, which includes the bombers, the Hansa Brandenburg W-13’s and Caproni’s as well as scale drawings, to be reviewed in the future. My only caution would be for a serious scale modeler building a super detailed off scale type, say a Hansa Brandenburg W-13, you would be better served by the Windsock Datafile. Also this is not a Prohaska novel, so Banfield’s mystique and honor remains.

Wonderful monograph about an amazing man and a little known part of World War I. It is not often that a member of the losing side is depicted in such positive terms.

The two volumes are well worth the money spent.

Yet another feather in Aeronaut Publishing's cap. The first of two volumes covering Gottfried von Banfield life and action during WWI. Very informative, extremely interesting and containing a wealth of detail and, to me, mostly new pictures. I am looking forward to volume 2.Strongly recommended to all with an interest in WWI and especially in the Adriatic campaigns.

Excellent Work

One star is too much, Amazon should integrate negative star values