Customer Reviews

The Red Fighter Pilot: The Autobiography of the Red Baron

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Of course everyone has heard of the myths about the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, but this book tells the real story, in his own words. Richthofen tells us about his early life, how he joined the army as a cavalry officer before going to flight school, and his experiences as the top-scoring fighter ace in World War One.

This version of Richthofen's autobiography also has a number of interesting photos which illustrate the world in which the Red Baron flew, fought, and died.

It also includes a very nice introduction which gives a short historical background of the First World War and the development of the airplane as a military weapon. Richthofen's accomplishments are placed in the context of earlier air aces like Roland Garros, Max Immelman, and Oswald von Boelcke, the German ace who took the young Manfred von Richthofen under his wing and taught him the rules of air combat.

Although there are several different printed versions of Richthofen's autobiography available, the very informative introduction and the accompanying photos make this version the best I have seen.

Very insightful book and well written. You get a pretty clear picture of Manfred Von Richthofen's short life, how he saw the war and his place in it. He had quite a sense of humor also. Kind of sad though when you realize he was bred for war. Interesting that his fighting tactics he learned from Boelcke are still used by fighter pilots today. Good introduction that gives alot of historical information on the war and the aces. I didn't know alot about WW1 when I got this book but I've certainly become interested enough to read alot more about it.

This book is great, it was written by Manfred Von Richthofen himself. The book shows all the struggles and excitement of aerial warfare in its infancy, during the first world war. The book also gives us the story before Richthofen climbed in the cockpit, back when he was in the cavalry.

A great look in how people and the world has changed. There was not as much and evil in the world and many of these men did not thing the other side as an enemy also how these piolets were at the almost total mercy of the weather a very interesting book

Written by the Baron himself. He is very much the gentleman and really tells you whats going on in his time. You gain a lot of perspective and he is a very likable person, you'd want to be friends with him.

He is not a cold blooded killer, just someone who was very good at his job and actually quite a gentleman and honorable person.

I was surprised how much I liked it, as i didn't expect much from it.

Very well done. A true story from the man himself, by himself. (Although heavily censored by his government.)

He comes across as a man who finds himself in a difficult situation but(literally)rises to the occasion and fights like the devil for his Fatherland. Maybe why his plane was painted red?

Choosing to uphold the credence of honor among aerial fighting gentlemen, he treats each "case" of victory as though it were already foretold. "He must go down!" would go through his thoughts with each new sorte and yet he would refer to his enemy as friend.

Quite a mindset for a man accredited with 100+ kills.

A really good telling.-Otto