Cobra! is a comprehensive, meticulously researched and fully documented history of Bell Aircraft Corporation and their piston engine fighters built during the Great Depression and through World War II. While the story centers on techincal aspects of the various fighters, significant attention is also devoted to those key individuals who conceived, built and flew these innovative designs. In addition to aircraft development, Cobra! surveys the combat use of the P-39 and P-63 fighters in the hands of American, French, Italian, and Soviet pilots. The story continues after World War II when a number of Bell surplus fighters were successfully modified for air racing. Birch Matthews is also the author of Wet Wings & Drop Tanks: Recollection of American Transcontinental Air Racing 1928-1970, and Mustang: The Racing Thoroughbred(with Dustin W. Carter). Both books are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

The last few years have seen an explosion of new Welsh writing for the stage. With the advent of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru in 2003 and the launch of National Theatre Wales in 2009, there has been a tectonic shift in Welsh theatre and its perception. Today, there are national theatres telling Welsh stories with wit, verve and ambition in both languages, with playwrights at the heart. The explosion of quality work from Wales's national theatres has stimulated thriving fringe theatre scenes in its cities, and raised the bar for other theatres across the UK. Wales has celebrated its poets and novelists, but in the 21st century, it is the playwright who is asking the crucial questions. In particular, what does it mean to be Welsh in the 21st century? Never before has there been so many playwrights of all ages, from across Wales, finding the stage the home for their stories. This collection of contemporary Welsh plays is the first to officially recognise this 'new wave' of Welsh playwrights, ranging from established, award-winning writers to those on the cusp of national recognition.It showcases a wide range of forms, themes and political concerns, as well as representing the most exciting voices at the forefront of Welsh drama. By taking the temperature on the first golden age of Welsh playwriting, this volume is the first collection in this new Welsh canon. This volume features the following plays: The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning by Tim Price Parallel Lines by Kath Chandler Bruised by Matthew Trevannion Llwyth by Dafydd James (in Welsh) Gardening for the Unfulfilled and Alienated by Brad Birch Tonypandemonium by Rachel Trezise Includes a foreword by David Ian Rabey and Charmian Savill, an introduction by Tim Price and Kate Wasserberg, and a chronology of major events in Welsh playwriting in the 21st century.