Pictorial History of the Luftwaffe

Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife. Very Good/Very Good. 1991. First Edition. Hard Cover. Sm 4to 1853101230 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Black cloth with bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership inscription. Numerous Photographs.168 pages clean and tight. Whatever one's political persuasion, there is much one can find that is intriguing about Hitler's Luftwaffe. Here was a force that in six short years rose almost from nothing to become the terror of Europe. It was the Luftwaffe that made possible the lightning victories by the German Army during the first three years of the war. Then, gradually but inexorably, the air forces of Germany's enemies became stronger than her own, and the Luftwaffe was forced on to the defensive on each front in turn. Finally, the vast majority of its aircraft grounded for want of fuel, many of its best crews dead or in prison camps, the greater part of it could do no more than sit on the ground and wait for the end to come. But as long as the war lasted the Luftwaffe could never be ignored in the Allied calculations, for to the very end it proved capable of springing uncomfortable surprises. Here is a step by step history of Hitler's Air Force presented in pictures. To research the photographs and text, the author visited many of the German senior officers who survived. The result is a unique and objectively precise account of the birth, life and death of the Luftwaffe. .