Customer Reviews

The First and the Last

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When this book was first published, it, like Saburo Sakai's "Samurai!", created quite a stir. As one of the earliest books to be told from the "enemy" perspective during World War II, it was, to say the least, revealing.

Galland started the war with the Condor Legion in Spain and rose to become Germany's General of Fighters. His book is a firsthand account of the Luftwaffe's (and Germany as a whole, for that matter) relentless rise to supremacy and gradual decline to the pit of defeat. Galland's narrative is vivid, at times brilliant, but what is most striking is the incredible--and astoundingly REPETITIVE--ignorance and ineptitude of the German leadership.

Hitler's continued insistence on wasting much-needed aircraft in futile offensives is, even to readers from the Allied nations, frustrating. The same story seems to be repeated over and over again: Galland, through sheer force of will, manages to build up a large force of reserves. His plan is to send them up en masse to wipe out so many Allied bombers that the bombing raids over Germany would have to be postponed until replacement planes can be built and delivered from the U.S.. On the eve of Galland's plan going into action Hitler orders an offensive and the reserves are depleted, forcing Galland to start again from scratch. The story is repeated over and over again, and eventually, Galland resigns his post in disgust and goes on to lead a jet squadron composed of hand picked EXPERTEN, the last of Germany's great fighter aces. Fighting a war they know is lost, they write a poignant final chapter to one of histories bloodiest periods.

Unlike the pilots of the Allied nations, the pilots of the Luftwaffe were forced to do battle until they were maimed or killed. Galland's book gives us a glimpse of the human element of the German side during World War II. The increasing tempo of Allied bombing raids, the dwindling stockpiles of planes, parts, pilots, and fuel, and the exasperation that comes with fighting a losing battle with one hand tied behind your back are told in a no-nonsense manner the reader will appreciate.

Well worth picking up.

Adolf Galland was one of the truly outstanding heroes of W.W.II. regardless of the side one which he served. As an individual he developed quite a large "cult" following in aviation circles and was a very popular speaker. His book was one of the first wartime memoirs published by a high ranking officer of the former enemy camp. General Galland does not go into alot of detail in regards to his "dogfights";not that he was too self-effacing,but that he was a pilot of consummate skill and many of his victories were fairly easy. (Galland held many prewar gliding records for time aloft!) When you are the best,you don't need to brag!

What sets this volume apart from many of the later wartime histories is the unique position the author attained,and the descriptions derived from personal contact with many of the leaders of the Third Reich. Galland is analytical--not apologetic--in his comments on the reasons for Germany's loss to the Allies.

If W.W.II history is your "thing" , then this is your book. Other reviewers have criticized the "wooden" writing style,but German is not the easiest language to translate into "literary" English. Put aside your quibble about style and read it for CONTENT and enjoy a view of recent history from one who actually made it. Five stars all the way.

The First and the Last is a superlative book. The edition on offer here, care of Buccaneer Books, Cutchogue, NY is not. The first seven chapters have been dumped, all the maps and charts are missing and the majority of the original photographic illustrations have been omitted or replaced with different images. I can't say whether these were used in later editions - they are certainly not in my Methuen & Co 1955 edition. Aside from the back of his head there no longer remains a single image of the man himself! All photo reproductions are poor.
On the positive side I didn't waste much money on this copy. Give it a miss!

The title of the book comes from the fact that Adolf Galland began WWII as a flight captain, and though rising through the ranks like a meteor to the equivalent rank of 3 star general, ended it the same way after refusing to kowtow to Adolf Hitler. Galland was a man who proves that even evil regimes have their worthy heroes. He had well over 100 air combat victories despite being promoted to general at age 30 (the youngest of any of the war) and removed from active combat for most of WWII. The top Amercan aces of the war, great as many of them were, scored less than 40. Generally regarded as one of the finest fighter pilots ever, he was also a great leader and stategist whose understanding of the air war was apparently far in advance of Hitler's and other Nazi leaders. Luckily for us, most of his advice as commanding general of the fighter side of the Luftwaffe fell on deaf ears. Despite his great accomplishments and impact,he generally downplays his role and tells the story of the European air war from a very humble perspective. Reading it is like reading the mind of Alexander the Great, but without any trace of ego or bitterness towards his former enemies. He was also as strong a humanitarian as combat permits, for example, insisting that his pilots refrain (though not always successfully) from gunning an enemy pilot who has bailed out and is helpless in his parachute. It is noteworthy that after the war he was among the few high ranking German leaders who was not found guilty of a war crime. He was just a man who served his nation, however wrong it was, to the best of his rather astonishing ability. Further evidence of his character is shown by the fact that he was for the rest of his life held in the highest regard by those he fought against. For example, he was asked to read the obituary for British Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a great Battle of Britain hero, many decades after the war. Despite the dry style of the writing, the inside story of a pivotal time in world history told by a dominant insider has to rank the book as one of the finest military historical and autobiographical works ever written. Like Chuck Yeager, he was a man bigger than life, whose story could make a wonderful movie.

I read this book in 1964 and reread it recently in 2001. This book was written shortly after the War with a German audience in mind. Most Germans still remembered the devastation wrought during the War on Germany's cities by the Allied bombing campaign and harbored deep resent toward arrogant, boastful Luftwaffe embodied by that fat braggart, Göring. Der Fette (The Fat One)'s boast, "If one Allied bomber appears over Germany, my name's Meyer" would have been the equivalent of Robert E. Lee saying "If one Yankee soldier shows his hide in Atlanta, call me a pickaninny."

Whatever his merits as a fighter pilot and a leader, Galland throws precious little light on the experiences of a fighter pilot, the technical and historic aspects of the air war or the internal politics of the Third Reich, especially considering his unique perspective. The combat vignettes are thinly drawn and perhaps could have been improved with some assistance by a ghost writer.

The political infighting seems to be retold with the intention of settling some scores ("See, I toldja so!"). Any recollections of the participants in a disaster like that visited on Germany by Hitler have to be taken with a few tons of salt.

The translator spins the flax of Galland's (probably) wooden German prose into the lead of (indisputably) wooden English prose. Some statements seem to contradict others a page or so away. More footnotes for the non-German reader would have been helpful. How many non-Germans know the story of the Captain of Koepenick?

Nits:

My copy is silent on the war in Spain and Poland, except for a publisher's note and some oblique references. The German audience could not have been very proud of Germany's role in either. (Did the Time magazine reviewer have a different translation?)

The Göring quote (in my translation) is rendered: "If one Allied bomber appears over Germany, my name's not Göring." (German reader's would have been all too familiar with the original.)

The story of Operation Thunderbolt is far better described in Alfred Price's "Instruments of Darkness" and R. V. Jones' "The Wizard War".

I enjoyed the portrayal of Albert Speer. Some insight into the man and how he accomplished (for good or for ill) as much as he did under the circumstances prevailing in the III-Reich can be gotten from the anecdote about Galland and Speer being dressed down by Hitler, who orders all fighter aircraft production cancelled and the material used for FLAK cannon production. As soon as Speer and Galland are alone, Speer turns to Galland and says {roughly), "Don't worry, you can't make cannon out of aluminum. When the Fürher calms down I will explain this to him and tell him to increase FLAK production out of Locomotive production."

Strongest point is the description of how a benevolent fate kept the ME-262 from greatly lengthening the War and increasing its costs (for all concerned). Did it occur to Galland that this story illustrated how Hitler's greatest strengths, decisiveness and lack of caution were also his greatest weaknesses? Did it occur to Galland that lengthening the War would almost certainly have meant that Germany rather Japan would have been the recipient of the World's first atomic attack?

I read the book in German and found it absolutely fascinating. Being Dutch and interested in our neighbours I had two questions. 1. Why the Germans actually did what Hitler ordered them to do, 2. Why they did it so devastatingly effective. Reading Galland gave me insight in the German mind. He isn't sympathetic, he is over ambitious and he never gives up. After being degraded as a General in 1945 and the war being totally lost, he just went back operational to shoot down some more B-17's.

Wether he was a Nazi remains unclear to me. He had a good relationship with Hitler. His justifications for starting the wars are revealing. As a book about aircraft or the second world war there are better ones, but if you want to understand the Germans I can recommend this one

A must read for anyone interested in the history of air war during WWII and specifically in the german Luftwaffe during WWII.

Galland provides an insider's perspective of the advantages, disadvantages, mistakes, tactics, aircraft and aces of the Luftwaffe. He was one of the 'Experten' and later became the commander of the Luftwaffe's figter arm, so he knows what he's talking about.

Adolf Galland (1912-1996) describes hiself as a humble man that just happends to have the ablility to overcome obstacles to become the best fighter pilot on the Western Front and after the deaths of Udet and Moelders, became the General of the Fighter Arm of the Luftwaffe. He oversaw Operation Thunderbolt in which a strong German naval force passed through the English Channel in 1942. This was the only time, since the 1600s, that an enemy naval force had gone through the Channel. The Germans did not lose a major ship because of the air cover. Galland also kept the development of the first operational jet fighter, the ME-262, in development and became the first jet ace in the world. After the war, he went on to train the Argentine Air Force to fly the British Gloster Meteor and the most respected ace of World War II. He had 104 "official" kills. He admitted that he had aproxamately 50 more kills as a General and had been grounded by Hitler. This book should be read in conjuction with the biography of Adolf Galland, Fighter General by Raymond Toliver and Trevor Constable (AmPress Publishing, 1990). After reading both books, I am in awe that we actually won the war with leaders like Galland.

This book is a personal history of the Second World War from the perspective of Adolf Galland's, an early German fighter aces.

The first part of the book details his experiences in the early Luftwaffe, learning to fly and fighting in the Spanish Civil War. Shortly after the Battle of Britain, he was promoted to the command of the Luftwaffe's fighter arm. Goering's main thesis is that the fighter arm was essential for aerial superiority, but was never properly supported by high-command because 'Germans attack and never defend'. Evidently fighter aircraft are a defensive weapon. Galland fought hard for the fighter arm but to no avail. In the end he was exiled to an elite Me 262 Jet fighter squadron along with other trouble making experten.

Galland discusses a litany of failures made by the German High Command including:
* planning based upon simple ideologies,
* planning using simplistic and over-optimistic assumptions, (e.g. Germany would beat Russia in three months),
* not making contingencies in the event of the failure of their battle plans,
* failing to acknowledge the failings of their strategies and tactics, and hence their continued use.

This book isn't an exciting account of Galland's exploits as a fighter pilot as I thought it would be. However, it is a very interesting account of the German side of events. Galland is completely straightforward. I found his insights on the failures made by the allies particularly thought-provoking, for example the near collapse of the US Army Airforce. Such things never get much recognition in Angalo-American literature.

Adolf Galland is one of the most famous aces of World War 2 and now he's sharing with us his stories in a superb book.