Customer Reviews

The Red Knight of Germany (War & Warriors Series, Photoreproduction Edition)

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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.

This was the first biography written about Germany's great WWI air ace,Manfred von Richthofen,better known as "The Red Baron".This book was originaly written in the 1920's and is rather dated.Several superior bios of Richthofen have been written since Gibbons wrote this one.The books main week point is the authors attempt to portray Richthofen as a cold blooded killer,which subsequent biographies have shown to be totaly false.One of the books strong points is Gibbons' interviews with some of the British flyers who were lucky enough to survive being shot down by Richthofen.Their stories are quite interesting.This book makes an entertaining read,but anyone interested in a more factual account of Richthofen's life should buy one of the more recent biographies.