We continue to look back at 2017 by looking what we got up to this summer. It was a season of great aviation titles for us, with two gorgeous books from John Dibbs (Hurricane and Storm of Eagles) in particular standing out. We also had some titles on the American Revolutionary War (Whispers Across the Atlantic and The Improbable Victory), along of course with one of the highlights of the Osprey calendar: The Big Reveal.

Summer Highlights

What people said about our books

Storm of Eagles

"Where Eagles dared! Blazing sky battles between the Allies and Nazis and the brave pilots who fought for their country brought to life in ‘breathtakingly’ restored photos." - Mail Online

Soviet T-10 Heavy Tank and Variants

“This is very remarkable and unusual assemblage of detail and original material by the authors and contributors.” - Tankette Magazine

Whispers Across the Atlantick

“David Smith has written an excellent and refreshingly unbaiased account of Sir William Howe’s service in America, and its consequences, which adds a layer of depth to this enigmatic general that you rarely see in histories of the war.” - Adventures in Historyland

Duel 79: USS Lawrence vs HMS Detroit

“This is a fascinating study of a little-known naval battle, and thanks to Mr Lardas, the exploits of the men who fought in such make-shift circumstances will become better known.” - Battlefield Magazine

Campaign 305: Kursk 1943 - The Southern Front

“This interesting book explores this epic battle and it includes detailed maps, excellent period photography and superb artwork. The tactics used by both sides are analysed, their plans assessed and the mistakes made by both sides are described. This was one of the bloodiest battles during the campaign and this book describes it in excellent detail. For Eastern Front enthusiasts, this book is essential reading.” - Military Archive Research

Our Favourite Artwork

COMBAT 26: Boer Guerrilla vs British Mounted Soldier By Ian Knight Illustrated by Johnny Shumate This scene shows the height of the battle of Ingogo on 8 February 1881, as the Boers fire at the horses of the Mounted Squadron.

CAMPAIGN 310: The Bar Kokhba War AD 132–136 By Lindsay Powell Illustrated by Peter Dennis This final image depicts the ‘Last Stand at Betar’ towards the end of the revolt. The plate shows the resistance of the Jews in Betar as they fend off Roman troops, creating a makeshift barricade in an attempt to slow down the Roman advance, allowing marksmen time to aim and strike.

Best of the Blog

The biggest event on the Osprey blog this summer was our annual Big Reveal, where we announced all of the books that we will be publishing in the New Year. Click the link below to see what we have coming up!

The Big Reveal 2017

One of our most exciting titles coming out in 2018, is Legion vs. Phalanx, written by Myke Cole, author of the bestselling Shadow Ops series. To research his first book for Osprey, Myke went on a trip to Greece with fellow authors Michael Livingston and Kelly DeVries, and he wrote a fascinating multi-part blog series to document his travels.

Myke Cole - Legion vs. Phalanx

With the weather closing in and winter upon us, it seems a lifetime ago since the Osprey marketing team set off for a hot, sunny weekend at IWM Duxford for their Flying Legends Air Show. In a few quieter moments away from selling books, we managed to take some amazing pictures of the vintage aircraft, as well as the Red Arrows!

Osprey at Flying Legends 2017

 Author posts are a mainstay of the blog, and here are three of the best from this summer.

Michael McNally and Fontenoy 1745
General Howe and the Writing of Whispers Across the Atlantick
The Inspiration Behind Nakajima B5N ‘Kate’ and B6N ‘Jill’ Units

Book Vote Winners

May

This vote focused on our Campaign series, and saw a straight shootout between Suez 1956 and Warsaw 1920 – but in the end, the latter took the win with a very impressive 39.87% of the vote.

June

In this contest for the X-Planes series, it was a close call. Northrop F-20 Tiger Shark almost claiming the top spot, but in the end, the winner was Dutch and Belgian Pre-War Prototypes, which claimed 26.98% of the vote. 

July

This was even closer vote in the Weapon series, with just 0.36% between the top two picks. The winner, however, with 26.47% of the vote was The Walther P38 Pistol, with the Browning Hi-Power at 26.11%, just behind.

August

By contrast, this vote for the New Vanguard series could not have been less close, as The Russian Navy of the Russo-Japanese War steered its way to a clear victory with a whopping 41.33% of the vote. Second place went to Torpedo Motorboats 1915-1919, though that was quite behind with 19.99%.

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