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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ace of Aces,
By Tristan Higgins (Wolfville, NS, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Red Knight of Germany: The Story of Baron Von Richthofen, Germany's Great War Bird (Hardcover)
The Red Knight of Germany: The Story of Baron von Richthofen Floyd Gibbons, 1927.To begin, I can honestly classify this title as simply an excellent read. Gibbons succeeds in giving a full recollection of the occurances during the life of Richthofen, and the respect the author had for Richthofen is apparent throughout the book. It is written with the same views that I believe the pilots of the time would have had pertaining to aerial warfare, or flight alone. The romantic aspects of flight, which were held in higer regard in the times of elegant, open cockpits and gallant pilots than it is today, the book unfolds in a more-than-satisfying manner the events leading up to, and including, Richthofen's time as an aerial fighter. The book includes excerpts from Richthofen's own accounts of the war, through letters to his mother, the official requests for acknowledgement for many of the victories he attained, and quotes. Certainly the book is worthy of much more praise than I am able to give in a short review such as this. For anyone even remotely interested in the early days of Aerial warfare, and of course of special interest to those interested in the history of Germany's Ace of Aces.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Rare Read, A Rare Breed,
By
This review is from: Red Knight of Germany: The Story of Baron Von Richthofen, Germany's Great War Bird (Hardcover)
Being an aviation and enthusiast, whilst going to a local antique shop (in Orange CO. CA); I happened across two very old publications. One was the first publication of this book: "The Red Knight of Germany" 1927(hardcover) and the other was "Warbirds: Diary of an unknown aviator" 1926/1951 (paperback).The former is a vintage first edition book of the era with thick paper pages and old style cover and binding. I had read a book previously called "The Red Baron: Richtoffen's Autobiography", but this book was equally as good as it was written from the perspective of 10 years after his death. The accounts of all 80 victories are fresh and has references to those that survived and even where they lived. Just touching a book this old and close to the events, takes one back in time. Few books have been able to do this to me. So by having "The Red Knight" and the other more recent book compiling his autobiography, one gets to know Manfred's life inside and out. I also strongly recommend the recent CDROM movie that investigates how he was killed. What one takes away from that is that it was his destiny to die much in the same way his victims did, but with the irony that he broke his own rule about going over the enemy lines. The best aces on both sides of the conflict died. Chances are the Red Baron died from a ground AAA Lewis machine gun, with exactly one bullet through his body and then crash landed. Irony at its epitomy. To qoute his last dying words as witnessed by the soldier that pulled him out: "I am kaput". Yet he lives on in the annals of military history, probably even more so in that he died young,in combat and at the top of _his_ game.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fairly objective bigobraphy of the Red Baron,
By
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Floyd Gibbons wrote his biography of Manfred von Richtofen, the official Ace of Aces of the First World War, less than a decade after the end of the conflict. Gibbons tracked down and interviewed many of von Richtofen's vanquished foes and includes their accounts of their battles against him. He interviewed many of those who had known the Red Baron, including his mother. He was even given access to Manfred's bedroom at the family estate in Silesia, and also to the correspondence of her late sons and their father. He presents the information he obtained in a matter of fact way that's typical of biography of that period, with little in the way of anecdotes to humanize the man.Many of von Richtofen's official claims are reprinted in their entirely. So also are reports that von Richtofen sometimes 'pulled the long bow' in regard to having made the kill, particularly when his opponent went down behind Allied lines. I must recommend to the reader of Gibbons' biography that he also read Arch Whitehouse's book, The Years of the Sky Kings. Whitehouse was allegedly 'shot down' by the Bloody Baron, and his account of the action (it is listed as von Richtofen's 42nd victory) is vastly different from the German report. My own reading has led me to conclude that more than one of his credited kills are questionable, though I don't believe he often (if ever) took credit for someone else's work as some spiteful air historians have alleged over the years. The book captures very well the tenor of an earlier time, when certain aspects of warfare could still be seen as gallant conflict rather than the bloody business war truly is. It is well worth reading, to learn how a determined, stubborn, yet shy young man evolved to become the dreaded Red Baron of the Imperial Air Service. However, as I have said, you must take some of the claims in the book with a grain of salt; and you really should read other books on the subject of the air war of World War I to place the Baron in the context of his time. Perhaps the respect in which the Red Knight of Germany was held can be summed up in this except from the British aviation magaine, Aeroplane, that was printed three days after von Richtofen was brought down: "Several days ago, a banquet was held in honour of one of our 'aces.' In answering the speech made in his honour, he toasted Richtofen, and there was no one who refused to join. Thus Englishmen honoured a brave enemy. "Both airmen are now dead; our celebrated pilot had expressed the hope that he and Richtofen would survive the war so as to exchange experiences in times of peace. "Anybody would have been proud to have killed Richtofen in action, but every member of the Roayl Flying Corps would also have been prod to shake his hand had he fallen into captivity." Coming from his honorable enemies, that is praise indeed and as good an epitath as any fighting man can hope for. While he was workmanlike and a good teacher rather than flashy like Frank Luke of the United States or Nungesser of France, Manfred von Richtofen was a man of honor of the old school and deserving of respect in the history of combat aviation; and not merely for his standing as the First World War's Ace of All Aces.
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