Customer Reviews

German Knights of the Air, 1914-1918: The Holders of the Orden Pour Le Merite

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This book provides a brief biographical sketch of each of the 81 recipients of the "Blue Max" from the Imperial German Air Service. It is unique in that photographs of each recipient are gathered together in a single volume. Coverage is well- balanced, with each airman, both the famous and the obscure, receiving 2-3 pages. The resulting sketches are somewhat superficial, but the scope of the overall effort makes this unavoidable. This is not a book that should be read cover-to-cover at a single sitting. It is best treated as a collection of short stories, any one of which is worthy of considerable expansion.

On the whole, this is a good book, with plenty of information about these fascinating airmen. If you are new to the history of WWI in the air, it offers plenty to get you started. However the reader should be aware that the book is rifled with inaccuracies, some of them quite puzzling. Some pictures are misidentified, and there are numerous examples of statements which simply do not square with the facts.

Some examples of the types of errors found in the book (there are many others):

1) In Boelcke's bio, the author states that Boelcke crashed to his death in a Fokker Eindecker (pg.42), which is incorrect. But to make the error more puzzling, four pages later (pg.46) in Erwin Boehme's bio, he describes the collision saying that Boehme damaged Boelcke's "upper wing". That is true, Boelcke died in a biplane Albatros D.II... which completely contradicts the statement in Boelcke's bio, since the Eindecker did not have an "upper wing", being a monpolane.

2) In Karl Emil Schaefer's bio, a group photo has KES identified as the 3rd person on the left. Somewhat remarkable seeing as the plane they are standing in front of (a Fokker D.VII) was introduced a year after his death.

3) Several places pilots are credited with downing Sopwith Camels well before they were introduced to the front. The planes were most likely Sopwith Pups, or 1 1/2 Strutters. It seems almost as though an editor with little knowledge of the period came across references to "Sopwiths", and plugged in the only plane he knew of from that manufacturer. For instance, in Goering's bio the author states that he was downed by "Camels" in November 1916. The Camel was not introduced to the Western Front until late Summer 1917. Such an obvious error should never have made it to print.

I don't want a prospective reader to think that this book is not worth having, because it is. Many of the pilots covered in this work receive very little attention by most historians of the period. Their biography's are a welcome addition to my collection. I just want everyone to realize that it needs to be read with care. Obviously whoever edited this book, either did not know the period very well, or simply did a sloppy job. Either way, it is a shame that a good book on a very worthy topic ended up with so many unnecessary flaws.

This book, written in dictionary-like style, gives a good general vision of the great GERMAN Aces of WWI, including Richthofen, Goering, Voss, Lowenhardt, Udet and all the others who won the Pour Le Merite. It lacks, although, in making a link between these pilots and the scenarios in which they have fought, being somewhat extremely impersonal.

A good overview of Germany's famous airmen of World War I. Not only are the fighter pilots reviewed, but also Zeppelin and seaplane pilots, observers, and the the generals that reorganized the air service. Some criticism of what should have been in the book:
1.) drawings of the Allied and German aircraft
2.) drawings of the medals recieved by these German airmen.
Also, the grammar was not right in some cases, especially when referring to months. A good overview of the heroes of the German air force in World War I.

I totally agree with the reader from Shalimar, Florida, who said this book cannot be read in only one shot, cover to cover. Why? Because it deals with fast biographies of 81 airmen from Germany in WW I. Each og the histories are interesting, well documented, but it only makes you wanna know more!

Good for being acquanted with 'Blue Max" recepients in relatively short period of time.There is a material about almost unknown pilots whose existance I never suspected about.Balanced, good base for futher research of WW 1 pilots.