Thank you Netgalley. This was an indepth read about military drones and their history. I am a total newbie and I found this very informative and enjoyable.

Suitably pictorial, this book fits in well with the typical Amber Books military flying hardware guides. I didn't find it perfect, but a specialist – unless knowing all this already – will find it fine. The first short chapter looks at some 'legacy' drones, from the UAVs first used to defend Israel in the early 1980s. The second chapter covers some of the same detail, however, as it again starts from the beginning, but looks at multiple theatres of war with the aim being to show the narrative of intel and recon drones. Happily, I guess, the narrative is dropped for what does become the more expected guide to all the gear, although still in readable form as most of the data is shoved aside to box-outs.

The remaining chapters show how the surveillance drones slowly got to bear arms, what has been borrowed from helicopters for the world of vtol drones, and the potential future products coming from the various arms manufacturers and nations. Who knew Turkey was so hot on this stuff? Still, helps slaughter Kurds, I suppose. And Armenians. And anyway, the future of this definitely has to take a back seat when the present is so important – the invasion of Ukraine, or at least the phase started recently by Putin, is definitely the first war I've been so aware of drone use. A Russian Orlan can drop the time for finding your target to shooting at it from thirty minutes to just five – perfect for those fast-moving, hard-to-shoot cinemas, theatres, shopping complexes. You know, the civilian targets it's a war crime to bomb.

This won't gain you such insight into the current state of the world, but it will definitely prop up your knowledge of what the military powers are eager to get much use out of.

Military Drones - Alexander Stilwell
This book is very extensive, covering the history and the technology of military drones. With lots of pictures and technical data, it's also kind of an encyclopedia. The text is well written, and the layout is good. With development as fast as it is, it's of course impossible to cover everything, especially the future(!). What I would like to be included, is more about the cheap drones, like the Shahed (Iranian kamikaze) and the Corvo (made from Cardboard).
Still, a very good book for those interested in the subject.