If ever there was an excellent book on Soviet aircraft to emerge from the post cold war era, this is the one. Not only do the authors have a lot of knowledge on these impressive aircraft, but also a collection of photos never before published of many little-known aircraft. Some of these aircraft are truly impressive such as massive bombers from the pre-war period to the Strategic Bombers fielded by the former Soviet Union. Tupolev is also the constructor of most of Russia's commercial jets and the book is therefore useful for anyone interested in civil aviation. there are also tables giving the production levels of most Tupolev aircraft and also others indicating the registration numbers of Tupolev airliners. But most of all it describes the personality and contributions to aerospace of Andrei N.Tupolev, one of the world's greatest aircraft designers, who dominated his country's aircraft industry for much of this century.