The book, American Flying Boats: A Pictorial Survey traces the development of both civilian and military flying boats from the flimsy, single engine fabric covered aircraft in 1909 up through the flight testing of jet powered flying boats in the early 1950s.  The introductory narrative follows the early pre World War I development of the first flying boats along with their use for the first time during the war.  The author highlights the early interest of the United States Navy in developing an air arm that would, in the pre-carrier days, use flying boats to perform reconnaissance duties in conjunction with fleet exercises.  While the general demand for flying boats waned in the initial post World War I years, interest continued, especially amongst American civilian airlines, in developing large multi-engine flying boats to expand their international route structures in both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean regions.  By the late 1930s, the United States Navy once again found it important to deploy the latest flying boats for scouting duties particular in the Pacific Ocean.  World War II lead to the unprecedented production of large numbers of flying boats for use in anti-submarine patrols, reconnaissance and in search & rescue missions.  While the immediate post war saw the development of experimental jet powered flying boats, the use of flying boats by the navies of the world declined substantially and the same can be said of commercial aviation.  By the mid 1950s the development of reliable jet powered land aircraft capable of flying long distances at a relatively high speed spelled the effective end of the flying boat era.  While Wright Aeroplane developed the first "float plane", Glenn Curtiss and the company he formed took it to the next level.  Along the way Boeing, Consolidated, Douglas, Martin, Republic and Sikorsky all jumped into the flying boat segment of both civilian and military aviation.  The author notes that the last American military organization to use a flying boat on missions was Patrol Squadron Forty, which operated in South Vietnam as late as 1967.  On the civilian side, by the early 1970s Antilles Air Boats, Inc. was the last commercial operator of flying boats in the world.  A list of the many flying boats highlighted in: American Flying Boats: A Pictorial Survey" is as follows: 1) Glenn Curtiss C.1 Flying-boat; 2) Curtiss-Sperry F-Type; 3) Curtiss H.12 & H.16; 4) Curtiss HS-2L; 5) Boeing XPB-2; 6) Douglas PD-1; 7) Sikorsky PS-1; 8) Gleen Martin XP2M-1; 9) Martin PM-1; 10) Martin P3M-2; 11) Consolidated PBY; 12) Sikorsky S.41; 13) Sikorsky S.39; 14) Fokker F.111t; 15) Hall PH-1; 16) Sikorsky S.40, 41, 42 & 43; 17) Douglas Dolphin; 18) Sikorsky XSS-2; 19) Douglas DF-151; 20) Martin M-130; 21) PBY Catalina; 22) Boeing 314; 23) Consolidated Model 31; 24) Grumman G.21; 25) PB2Y-2 Coronado; 26) Hughes HK-1 / 4; 27) Glenn Martin PBM-1; 28) Glenn Martin PBM-1 Mars; 29) Martin PBM Mariner; 30) Grumman Goose; 31) Republic RC-3 Seabee; 32) Grumman G-73 Mallard; 33) Martin P5M Marlin; 34) Convair R3Y-2; 35) Lake Aircraft LA-4; 36) Martin Seamaster and 37) Convair XF2Y-1 Sea Dart.  In addition to an informative narrative, "American Flying Boats: A Pictorial Survey" includes approximately 108 black and white vintage photographs.  This book is certain to appeal to anyone interested in the storied history of "American Flying boats".  This book is 96 pages and is in good overall condition but does have several locations on the spine of the dust jacket where the laminate is separating from the underlying paper.  The author is G.R. Duval.  Edition published in 1974.