Centaurus,
If you retain yearnings for the aircraft you may be interested in "Straight Down!" by Peter C Smith the story of the A-36. A review below. ISBN 0947554734 320 pages hardcover and readily available via internet. Have not read myself.
Peter C. Smith has assembled in this volume accounts from the designers, builders, and pilots of this little-known offshoot of the P-51 family as well as an impressive selection of photos. From the design and construction, through training stateside and deployment in the Mediterranean and China-Burma-India theaters of operation, the author's narrative links the recollections of those who made history in this machine. He also addresses the many falsehoods that have somehow become accepted as fact regarding the combat use of the A-36, and properly points out that this is the aircraft that kept the Mustang alive as an Air Corps project. Overall, Mr. Smith displays a command of the subject that puts him above many of the other writers of aviation history, and I would have rated this a five-star effort if he didn't have several mis-identified photos of P-51B Mustangs labelled as A-36 Apaches.
Blue Skies,
Brian