The Luftwaffe: A History (Pen & Sword Military Classics) [Paperback]

John Killen (Author), John Cotesworth Slessor (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003 | Series: Pen & Sword Military Classics (Book 6)

John Killen's exhaustive work is a study of German air power between 1915 and 1945, from the early days of flying when Immelmann, Boelke, Richthofen and other First World War aces fought and died to give Germany air supremacy, to the nightmare existence of the Luftwaffe as the Third Reich plunged headlong to destruction. Here are the aircraft: the frail biplanes and tri-planes of the Kaiser's war; the great Lufthansa aircraft and airships of the turbulent Thirties; the monoplanes designed to help Hitler in his conquest of Europe. Here are the generals who forged the air weapon of the Luftwaffe the swaggering Goering, the playboy Udet, the ebullient Kesselring and the scapegoat Jeschonnek; here, too, are the pilots who tried to keep faith with their Fatherland despite overwhelming odds; Adolf Galland, Werner Molders, Joachim Marseille and Hanna Reitsch. Not least are the actions fought by the Luftwaffe from the Spanish Civil War to the Battle of Britain, through the bloody struggle for Crete and the siege of Stalingrad to the fearful twilight over Berlin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Pen & Sword Books (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850529255
• ISBN-13: 978-0850529258
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,361,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Adequate Account?, December 3, 2003

By 

Robin Dalziell "spurius-albinus" (West leederville, Western Australia Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Luftwaffe: A History (Pen & Sword Military Classics) (Paperback)

Barely an adequate account. John Killen's book is obviously written by an admirer of of the RFC and the RAF. For me, this came across more strongly than the stated objective of a history of the German airforces of WW1 and WW2. The title is misleading in that it is very much an account of the air conflict in European skies during WW1 and WW2, though barely an history of the Luftwaffe.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One to avoid, March 9, 2004

By 

birchden "birchden" (Eastbourne, East Sussex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Luftwaffe: A History (Pen & Sword Military Classics) (Paperback)

In a military book market swamped by far too many over-specialised and over-long tomes, a handy book covering an important subject like the Luftwaffe is always welcome - especially when it is attractively presented with an interesting selection of photos.

However this book will lead the unwary astray while it frustrates the serious student. The first thing that strikes the reader is the large number of misspelt names and words - 'Reichwehr' instead of 'Reichswehr', 'Felmay' instead of 'Felmy', for example. Another example of this sloppiness is the way the author uses both the type designation 'Me110' (incorrect) and 'Bf110' in the text.

More seriously, various factual errors pepper the text. On page 143 Goering is said to have watched aircraft involved in the 7 September 1940 attack on London flying over Cap Gris Nez. In fact, he was at Cap Blanc Nez. On pages 183-184 a reluctant Hitler is said to have been obliged to declare war on the US by the Tripartite Pact - and tried to wriggle out of his commitment. In fact there was no such obligation and Hitler chose to fight.

There are also questions of style, with flowery descriptions of often peripheral events - does it matter what sort of revolver Udet used to commit suicide? - which often give one the feel of the author padding out the text.

Bearing in mind the very thin looking bibliography, the overall impression is of a slipshod piece of work, hurriedly put together from secondary sources, which has not even benefited from some decent editing. Sadly, one is forced to conclude that this book is far from being the 'military classic' it claims to be and would have been better left un-reprinted.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars some 40 year old books simply are not worth reprinting..., December 18, 2003

By 

N. Page (UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Luftwaffe: A History (Pen & Sword Military Classics) (Paperback)

..exhaustive ..?! sorry, I would have chosen adjectives like skimpy, patchy, incomplete, superficial. A forty year old text that didn't merit a nice reprint like this...I could have done better from memory ..