Last Talons of the Eagle Hb [Hardcover]

Gary Hyland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

The story of the secret aerospace technology developed in Nazi Germany which almost changed the course of World War II. There were designs for a hypersonic space plane, a manned V1 flying bomb, and dozens more prototypes which were technologically way ahead of their time.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Headline (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747221561
• ISBN-13: 978-0747221562
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such an Interesting Book, June 16, 2000

By 

John Malcolm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Talons of the Eagle: Secret Nazi Technology Which Could Have Changed the Course of World War II (Paperback)

Wow. Reading this makes me ponder the lost opportunities the Nazi's had, and thankfully squandered.

Lots of great information and photographs in the book. I suggest this to anyone interested in WWII aviation, aviation history or German air power.

A very interesting aspect to this book is that our current (I write this on June 16, 2000) stealth capabilities were all tested german aircraft 60 years ago!

Like I said, happily, they lost.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit too much editorializing, January 20, 2010

By 

A. Marciniszyn (Detroit, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Talons of the Eagle: Secret Nazi Technology Which Could Have Changed the Course of World War II (Paperback)

The book's strength is the wide range of projects covered. However, it would have been a better read if the authors had deleted their own running commentary and perhaps reviewed a few Allied reports regarding the various aircraft mentioned. Many were captured by the Allies and even those in the one-off situation were evaluated. Paper projects were also evaluated since whatever the Germans had not finished by the end of hostilities, someone else did if the idea was felt worthwhile.

I must also agree with another reviewer's comment about misrepresentation. The Horten brothers is one good example. I wonder where the authors got their information regarding the flying wing "as too outrageous to be practicable." I suggest anyone reading this pick up a copy of Nurfluegel by Reimar Horten and Peter F. Selinger. The text is in German and English. An excerpt: "In 1910, the German aircraft designer Hugo Junkers filed Patent # 253788, which predicted that the flying wing would be the final solution to aircraft development."

A good book if you can ignore the author's occasional flights of fancy and unsupported conclusions otherwise stated as fact, since, at the time, whatever could be done by the Germans was being done.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Last Talons of the Eagle, July 25, 2002

By 

david johns (Crib Point, Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Talons of the Eagle: Secret Nazi Technology Which Could Have Changed the Course of World War II (Paperback)

This is a great book for anyone with an interest in WW2 German technology.Europe would have been a much different place if the Nazi leadership had decided not to interfere with research and development of the German Luftwaffe. I would recommend this book as a starting point for research,or an introduction to collecting books on this subject.It is by no means exhaustive in it's coverage of German technology,but it is nonetheless a very interesting and surprising read.I gave this book three stars for the content alone, and if I have any critisism it was that it should have covered a greater range of subjects ie.Panther tanks fitted with night vision etc.,and more photos and drawings.This is a book that deserved a A4 size hardbound format but I gave a extra star for it's presentation.