Alert In the West: A Luftwaffe Pilot on the Western Front (Fortunes of War) [Paperback]

Willi Heilmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2005 | Series: Fortunes of War

    

One in an ongoing series of reasonably priced reprints of long out-of-print classic WWII titles.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Cerberus Publishing Ltd. (October 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184145026X
• ISBN-13: 978-1841450261
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,924,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Memories, Few Facts, February 3, 2006

By 

zar1969 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alert In the West: A Luftwaffe Pilot on the Western Front (Fortunes of War) (Paperback)

The book is a collection of memoirs, which were compiled several decades after the events of WW2. It is probably because of that fact, that the book is not very heavy on details and data. For example, the author rarely mentions the dates of events. There are no maps, which would have been very useful if one would want to understand the larger context of events. On the other hand, the book contains several photos of the pilots of III./JG54 and their FW-190's. The style of the memoirs is wonderfully honest and devoid of propaganda clichés. The human aspect of the Luftwaffe pilot fighting for his life at the end of a lost war is depicted very convincingly. The book has a most moving final chapter, which culminates in one of the most poetic (and sad) images that has ever been written in the field of war memoirs.

Some limited information can be derived about the aerial combat tactics of the Luftwaffe and the Allies. The author describes many combat missions, the altitudes at which they were fought, the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the different aircraft, etc.

On the negative side, the editorial work on this book does not uphold very high standards. Some of the terms are translated incorrectly from the German and the text is plagued by numerous spelling mistakes. This is the third book from the Fortunes of War Series, which I have read and I must regrettably warn you that the poor editorial work is a feature, which plagued each of them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars my copy is titled "I Fought you from the Skies"...interesting. but a terrible translation, May 26, 2006

By 

Lake Waters "L. Waters" (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alert In the West: A Luftwaffe Pilot on the Western Front (Fortunes of War) (Paperback)

As noted before. There is much information about individual sorties and dogfights. The British translation is terrible though. One would think the pilot was in the RAF instead of the Luftwaffe, there are just too many British colloquialisms being substituted for German ones. After awhile, I found the British phrases very distracting. I also agree that a few maps would make it a much more enjoyable read.

I do however think it fills a niche as a pilots perspective of the final days in the Luftwaffe.

The previous poster I think has the dates wrong though. I believe the book was first published in 1951, as "Alarm in Westen" by a German publisher. My old paperback is a translation published into English in 1966.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alert In The West, August 8, 2009

By 

Luukka Juha (Helsinki 00980, Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alert In the West: A Luftwaffe Pilot on the Western Front (Fortunes of War) (Paperback)

Good book,

I happen to have both "old" "I fought You from the Skies " and this new edition. New is better as this book reveals true names of Luftwaffe pilots - maybe the old version is from the time when Luftwaffe histories weren't so popular.

Good book in all - "langnase" is described very well and even Walter Nowotny gives appearance. Also added pictures give some faces to characters of the final battles in Europe.

Recommend warmly...

Juha Luukka