Customer Reviews

KNIGHT OF GERMANY: Oswald Boelcke German Ace

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the story of Germany's great WWI ace Oswald Boelcke. Boelcke developed many of the air combat principles that are still valid today. He was also a great ace himself, shooting down 40 enemy aircraft. Much of the book is made up of letters and diary entries written by Boelcke himself,which makes the book as much autobiograph as biography.

The backbone of the book are the letters from Boelcke to his family. However, Cap. Boelcke was writing to his parents, not to general public interested in WWI aviation. So, the writer should be expected to provide a reasonable amount of contextualization. But Mr. Werner had no interest in performing any serious research. His preference was for shameless propaganda. For instance, he will teach you that Oswald Boelcke had the luck of being born in a true German family. The flattery is so exaggerated that portraits that outstanding man in a kind of Mickey Mouse perfection, removing from him any trace of humanity. Four Stars to the letters from Oswald Boelcke, zero to the Johannes Werner's text, making the 2 stars average this book deserves.

Histories as this cause one to understand that, rightly or wrongly, there are two sides to every story. History is vital in understanding that people are people and behave similarly and have the same emotions and behaviors as they are encouraged to have in their environment. We are not so different beyond those with motives that are in charge.