Wow — what a beautiful book! Flight Through the Ages: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to the Guild of Aviation Artists gathers page after page of outstanding paintings that will inspire and fascinate anyone who loves the history of aircraft. The subjects are organized chronologically from the dawn of flight through the World Wars and up to today.

I’m not sure I can articulate what it is about illustrations and paintings that can often be more satisfying than photographs — perhaps it is simply the touch of the artist’s vision and imagination — but whatever that quality is, this lovely volume has it in spades. The aviation enthusiast and collector will find this book a most worthy investment.

To share just one example, here is a portion of a Lysander operation that recalls one of my personal posts:

1/72 Westland Lysander