Customer Reviews

The Last Year Of The Luftwaffe: May 1944-May 1945 (Greenhill Military Paperbacks)

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

 

 

I do not have a great deal of interest in aviation, but I was given this book as a present. It is very well written indeed. The author is to be congratulated on covering such a broad sweep so well, you feel no major area of activity has been left out or skimped on. He is also highly to be congratulated on explaining technical aviation matters in a very accessible way.

The chapter on the V-Rockets is particularly good.The story as a whole has great drama.

It would be wonderful is this book could be expanded into a series - one volume on each year of the Luftwaffe - it would be a major work of note and extremely helpful to the non-specialist.

I have only missed one star as he does not fully explain the aircrew shortage (there could be many reasons for this shortage - but I'd like to know what they were - he does an excellent job in explaining the fuel shortage.)

The book made me want to read much more about the Luftwaffe and its notable commanders and aviators.

To look at it, even if you quickly give it a thumb-through, you might not expect much from this book. It has that look of a history for wargamer types- lots of charts, etc., not much narrative. But you would be wrong. Yes, it has its share of charts, but quite a few are pretty informative, and the writing in the text, if not the stuff of the great narrative historians, is quite crisp and to the point. The book presents an excellent overview of the last year of Luftwaffe operations, including discussions on principal types of planes and assessments. Now, you won't find in-depth discussions of personalities, but the book makes some excellent points. For example, Dr. Price maims the standard argument about Hitler crippling the Me 262 program by insisting the plane be made a bomber or fighter-bomber. In fact, Hitler's efforts only resulted in a 3 week delay in the plane coming into service. Dr. Price also re-assesses and rehabilitates Hitler's position that it SHOULD have been built as a ground attack plane. The book also makes you appreciate the fantastic effort made by the USA in WWII, where we were throwing up 1200 bombers 3 times per week at the end of the War. Just imagine trying to put out that kind of effort given the politics & media of the 21st Century!