First and the Last, The [Mass Market Paperback]

Adolf Galland (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (May 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553267264
• ISBN-13: 978-0553267266
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #744,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the best internal analysis of the Luftwaffe., October 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The first and the last: The rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945; (Paperback)

This book is the benchmark of World War II Luftwaffe studies, written by the man who commanded the Fighter Force from Dec. 1941-Jan.1945. Galland was not just a warrior and ace, but an innovator who constantly battled with Goering and Hitler over the fate of their nation. As a specialist in the field, and someone who knew Galland personally, it is an honest representation of the facts. Highly recommended as a text.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic account of a dedicated leader's struggle against incompetent superiors, February 15, 2007

By 

E. H. Ellis (West Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First and the Last: Germany's Fighter Force in WWII (Fortunes of War) (Paperback)

Galland recounts the evolution of the fighter arm and its employment in the face of supporting a land campaign of overwhelming dimensions in the east (which was given priority for everthing) and simultaneously trying to defend the Reich itself from the relentless bombardment by the Anlgo-American air forces from the west. Included are the silly solutions proposed by Goering (who confessed in the late '30's that he, "just didn't know much about modern aircraft") and the constant belittling complaints from Hitler that the Luftwaffe "had let him down", but who refused to listen to any realistic assessment of the need for a massively enlarged fighter force and continued to see the bomber as weapon which would overcome all. Interesting to speculate what the Wermacht might have accomplished, a propos the Soviet Union, if Hitler hadn't made the fatally stupid mistake (among several others) of declaring war on the United States in order to honor the Tripartite Agreement with Japan.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough , Insightful, and Revealing, May 10, 2005

By 

ERO (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The first and the last: The rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945 (Paperback)

This text accuratly depicts the inner managerial tectonics of the Luftwaffe during WWII. Galland reveals a unique perspective of the German air war and the rather pervasive incompetence of the German leadership to use the fighter wings effectively. It also takes an honest look at the Allied air war and draws some rather unique conclusions concerning the popular opinion of the effectiveness of the bomber campaign in Europe which general reader might find interesting. This book will be of more interest to those drawn to logistics and strategy rather than action-packed air combat scenes, about which the ever-modest Galland spends little time bemusing.