The final year of World War II witnessed the decline of the piston-engine fighter and the beginning of the jet age. Taking to the skies were tried-and-true fighters, improved versions of old aircraft, and newly developed jets, including prototypes that flew for the first time just before the war ended. * Hundreds of photos chronicle these dynamic aircraft in Europe and the Pacific * Includes American Mustangs, Thunderbolts, and Shooting Stars (first operational U.S. jet); British Tempests, Spitfires, and Gloster Meteors (first operational Allied jet); German Fw 190s, Bf 109Ks, and Messerschmitt Me 262s (first operational jet fighter); Japanese Ki 100s, Raidens, and Tojos; and many more * Ideal reference for military history fans, scholars, and modelers

Aircraft and aerial warfare expert Donald Nijboer is the author of eleven books, including Gunner: An Illustrated History of World War II Aircraft Turrets and Gun Positions, Graphic War: The Secret Aviation Drawings and Illustrations of World War II , and Spitfire V vs. C.202 Folgore: Malta 1942. He has written articles for Flight Journal, Aviation History, and Aeroplane Monthly, and has been a Smithsonian Speaker as part of Smithsonian Travels. He lives in Toronto.