Customer Reviews

The Zeppelin in Combat: A History of the German Naval Airship Division

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In the 1996 hit film 'Independance Day' the terrified populance of the worlds major cities cringe as huge ships of an invading force hover overhead. While that movie was simply escapist entertainment, something strikingly similar happened (over London, at least) during World War I; Germany tried to force England into submision using that uniquely German invention, the Zeppelin. 'The Zeppelin in Combat' by Douglas H. Robinson, is regarded as the standard reference on this particular facet of WWI. The book documents the trials, tribulations, and tragedies of the attempt to make the airship into a viable weapon. Covered is the role of the airship in the famous Naval battle of Jutland, an extraordinary attempt to supply troops in Central Africa via airship, and several vivid accounts of British pilots that successfully shot down Zeppelins. Other topics include the story of one crew downed in the north sea, who's eventual fate was revealed by a note washed ashore in a bottle. Another crew became the only hostile forces to march over English soil during either world war when they were forced down during a raid (although not too terribly hostile, they were captured en masse by a lone policeman on a bicycle). Personalities include Hienrich Mathy, the Red Baron of airships, and Peter Stasser, the Naval leader of airships whose almost religious belief in the airship as a weapon of war lead to his own death in an Zeppelin off the coast of England. This revised edition includes many photos published for the first time. For the serious airship enthusiast, this book provides fascinating reading. One caveat, however; the book is published by Shiffer Military History, and contains numerous typo's (as many Shiffer books do). But all in all, they should be applauded for publishing a book at all on such an arcane subject

My wife gave me this book for Christmas a couple years ago, and I cannot say enough good things about it. This is a subject I had a lot of passion for, and I could not be more pleased with this volume. There is a TON of information crammed into this 400+ page big book.

Let me break down the highlights:

1. PICTURES: The book goes out of its way to show you as many pictures as possible of these German WWI airships and their crews and sheds. It is simply fascinating to watch the development of airships throughout the war (as the pre-War DELAG designs give way to more modern rudders and shapes...to the height-climbers painted black on the underbelly to confuse anti-aircraft fire). There are many many good sized pictures.

2. AIRSHIP RAID REPORTS: This feature just stuns me. Every single raid is documented in chart form, complete with which Zeppelins participated in the raid, take-off and landing times, distance ship travelled, average speed, number of crew, fuel use, oil used, hydrogen used, and (onimously) whether it returned to Germany safely or not.

3. HISTORY: 19 of the 24 Chapters are devoted to the WWI history of German combat airships. One warning: the commentary is slightly dry. You have to be pretty interested in the subject to get into the storyline. The book has depth, and will reward the studious reader. This is nearly primary-source information.

4. AIRSHIP HEROES: Peter Strasser (Naval Head of German WWI Airship Division) and Heinrich Mathy (one of the more successful airship captains) are quite prominent. There are stories of many other airshipmen as well. The personal aspect is a huge strength of this book.

5. OTHER AIRSHIPS: Also covered are not just Zeppelins, but Schutte-Lanz airships, which were rigids with wooden frames (verses aluminum in Zeppelins). Peter Strasser was not a big fan of these "glue potters" as he called them.

WARNING: This is a fairly technical book. If you want an airship book for more casual reading, check out "The Hindenburg - Illustrated History" by Rick Archbold. It is much lighter, but not nearly as detailed on this era of airships.

Douglas H. Robinson spent a number of years at Friedrichshafen at Zeppelin. This is primary source material for anyone interested in the history of airships. The research in this book is expemplary. The level of detail is fascinating. And it is very well written. Highly recommended!

This esoteric work is a gem for the history buff as well as for the airship enthusiast. The photos alone make the book worthy enough to justify the effort of cracking open one's wallet. The information on the airships - or should I say "big slow explosive aerial targets" - and the intrepid units that flew them appears to be well-researched. If only all the world's power-hungry aggressors put so much effort into doomed ideas like the airship, we'd live in a more peaceful, albiet smokier, world.