Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

..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 ..

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. I'll keep searching.