Tragiczna historia izraelsko-arabskich walk powietrznych. O książce Jakuba Marszałkiewicza Walki powietrzne podczas wojen izraelsko-arabskich

This article deals with the book Izraelsko-arabskie walki powietrzne [Israeli-Arab Aerial Combat] by Jakub Marszałkiewicz. Its author tries not only to summarise the aerial combats from the year 1948 to the present but also to show the beginnings of the Israeli Air Force. Unfortunately, this task seems to overwhelm him. The reviewed publication contains so many mistakes and ambiguities that it is impossible to analyse them fully in a review. As a result, only the most important ones are corrected. Marszałkiewicz does not refer to recent major publications related to his topic. He mostly draws on old books and articles published in Polish without even trying to verify their claims. Unfortunately, he has some difficulties with using other authors’ works. Summing up, this is a book that not only brings nothing new to historiography but also preserves many old mistakes and myths, even adding new ones to the existing list.