Customer Reviews

Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: (Schiffer Military/Aviation History)

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Let me first thank you for considering my review, and for giving it the attention I believe it merits. Despite a plethora of books purchased, this is my first time commenting on a text I obtained through Amazon, and that alone should indicate how special this book is to me. I purchased "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" (aka: "F.A.o.t.L") on a whim, after watching an episode of a series on The Military Channel that detailed German aircraft of WWII. My curiosity was piqued and so to Amazon I clicked with credit card in-hand, and in short order went from an ignoramus with no knowledge of the Luftwaffe's most exceptional fighter pilots, to eager student, flying through first this text and then a number of follow-up books. I am happy to say with absolute sincerity that "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" was the best book purchase of my life.

Why?

Because, as I allude to above, "F.A.o.t.L" was the catalyst to exploring an entirely new topic of interest to me - German fighter aces of WW2 - a subject about which I'm still reading today, nearly a year later.

"Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" delivers an ideal blend of military history, biography, data/statistics and photos for the reader who is a generalist or not-so-advanced in his Luftwaffe study as to have identified a favorite pilot or two and marked them for further investigation. If you have a genuine interest in learning about an amazing group of pilots, and want to do so in a way that disconnects them from a highly-charged political context - and if those pilots happen to be German Aces - buy this book. You will not be disappointed.

Due to the sheer number of German Aces, and the variance in the notoriety of their exploits (or lack therein), the authors allocate more text to some pilots than they do to others. But no matter. You'll soon come to realize that there are dozens of biographies (some of which are well-written, and some of which are not) that expand upon the professional accomplishments and personal lives of men such as Schuck, Rall and Hartmann - all of whom I discovered in "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe." But without this text, a man like Hans-Joachim Marseille - "The Star of Africa" - would have remained an unknown quantity to me. But with Chapter 5 dedicated in its entirety to Marseille and his actions within the African theater, I learned more than enough to understand that it was imperative to purchase another Schiffer title: "German Fighter Ace Hans-Joachim Marseille: The Life Story of the Star of Africa" (Schiffer Military History). The same was true of my introduction to Erich Hartmann, after which I promptly added "Thee Blond Knight of Germany: A biography of Erich Hartmann," which I'm following tonight with "German Fighter Ace Erich Hartmann: The Life Story of the Worlds Highest Scoring Ace" (Schiffer Military History).

THAT for me is testament to the overall value and importance of "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" - because of this book, it was simple to navigate the mess of biographies on German aces from WWII and concentrate on those chronicling the work done by men who I'd read about in "F.A.o.t.L"!!!

I assume you already have some interest in learning more about the Luftwaffe, or else you would not be reading this review. Regardless of your motivation, let me say that "F.A.o.t.L" and the books I followed it with made for not just engaging, interesting and exciting reading, but they allowed me to momentarily transcend my station in life (marked by a dire set of circumstances that causes me great pain and suffering) and find a temporary feeling of peace and tranquility in the chronicles of war. The irony is not lost on me, but what further testament to the quality of the experience available to a reader of "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" is necessary to feel comfortable purchasing the text? Hopefully none.

Despite my obviously positive feelings towards the experience I had while reading this book, and my amazement at the effort made by the authors to recount the exploits of the Luftwaffe's best aces - and to provide the data to support their claims - I offer the following pieces of constructive criticism:

1) There is a Glossary, which I use still while reading other texts, but no index! Though this version was published in 1996, to have omitted something as crucial as an index in a reference book as ambitious as this one is a maddening oversight that makes it difficult to find specific information after-the-fact.

2) The dust jacket is unimaginative and sophomoric - this is not a book to be left on one's coffee table and admired for the visual appeal of said dust jacket in addition to the content.

3) Though well-stocked with photographs, most of the images are relatively small and are not of the sharpness I would have expected of such a comprehensive and wide-reaching text.

And finally, though not a criticism, be advised that the authors go well out of their way to avoid a discussion of the wider moral or ethical implications of the pilots' service in a Luftwaffe beholden to Hitler and the Nazi's. They do not excuse the pilots for their service on behalf of a regime that murdered millions of non-combatants - they simply don't discuss it. Whether they "should" or not is irrelevant, for the book has been written. But you are forewarned.

I close by thanking the authors for writing "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" and introducing me to a fascinating sliver of the history of war. While my own life crumbles around me and I'm left wondering what suffering awaits me next month or the month thereafter, spending a few minutes immersed in "Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe" will momentarily lift me up into the pleasant blue sky...that wild blue yonder...

"Tally ho!"

[NOTE: If you enjoyed this review or otherwise found it helpful, please do me the favor of making this known to Amazon by clicking "Yes" and/or leaving a comment of your own. It's true that my life is in disarray, but I found a momentary respite in writing this review for you, and would be happy to spend the little time I have left detailing my opinions on some of the other books I've read on this topic - especially if you would find it helpful to your own buying process. Thanks.]

This is a good review on the main Luftwaffe aces profiles, but I think the authors are to indulgent on the pilots personalities. Even great pilots like Galland are not perfect human beings, in this sense the authors don't look at less knowed passages of their biographies. However this book is fair comprehensive and worth the time and the money.

Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe is slightly sycophantic at times, but nevertheless has stood for decades as the definitive and most thoroughly detailed guide to Germany's WWII fighter aces. Replete with fascinating tales of the pilots as well as scores of rare photographs, this classic book is HIGHLY recommended.

This is the best book I have read on this subject.There are individual chapters on the Eastern Front,Western Front and night fighter aces.Several of the top aces have chapters all to themselves.All the top aces are covered in this super book.Very exciting reading.In the back of the book there is a list of hundreds of aces and their victories.

I've had this book for many years and re-read parts of it occasionally as it provides good biographic sketches of some of the Luftwaffe's great fighter pilots and a sense of what they experienced.

However, I agree with the other critics who have found the book to lack balance, and this lack of balance is a serious shortcoming to this work. The protagonists are presented in a very idealized manner, and there is very little recognition of the fact that they were fighting for one of the most detestable regimes in all of history. The authors express great indignation at the way many of the German pilots were treated in Soviet captivity both during and after the war, but there is scarcely a word on the subject of the abhorrent way Soviet POWs were treated by the Germans, and the millions of Soviet POWs who were killed or allowed to die from ill treatment. And I'm sure that not all of the Luftwaffe pilots were the "gallant knights" this book tries to depict them as being.

Having known both authors and most of the pilots mentioned in this book, and being a writer and student of military/aviation history, this is the best book ever written on the topic. The pilots are described as real personalities, their careers reviewed, and their post war experiences addressed. No student of WW II can be considered educated on the subject until he has read this work.

The book provides good stats on LW pilots, as well short articles on some of the most noteworthy ones. It would be a good tool as a guide with basic info on the fighter pilots, but the articles still do not provide complete bios. Definitely worth having for Luftwaffe aficionados.

I was not very impressed with some aspects of this book. The authors seem to believe that every Luftwaffe experte was the perfect specimen of a man. In their efforts to romanticise these people, I believe they do the pilots and themselves an injustice. They have left many gaping holes in their research (which in one case they were silly enough to highlight) and although much of the book covers some rarely-seen aspects, I found it less-than satisfying. Whilst I accept that the authors knew some of the characters involved, I would have appreciated a rather more frank discussion. That makes it less than good value for money and not as much fun as Mike Spick's book on the same subject (though his is, of course, far less detailed and much cheaper).