Few military aircraft in the history of aerial warfare have suffered such misrepresentation as have those of Germany evolved during the life of the Third Reich. Despite a plethora of published material much has remained to be said; innumerable errors of fact have remained to be corrected, and many long-cherished but spurious beliefs have remained to be demolished. These tasks are undertaken by the Warplanes of the Third Reich which, with an infinite wealth of detail in more than a half-million words of lavishly-illustrated text, is the synthesis of more than two decades of painstaking research; the distillation of information gleaned from sources and documentation which, in large part, have never hitherto been available to the historian.
From such as the Arado 65, the Dornier 11, and the Heinkel 45, which gave life to the clandestine wings of a newly-created Luftwaffe, to the Arado 234 and Messerschmitt 262, which, a dozen years later, provided fuel for the pyre that marked the Luftwaffe's end, each warplane developed in Germany in the years from 1933 to 1945, be it experimental prototype or the most ubiquitous of combat aircraft, is described in highly-readable fashion yet in immense depth of detail; its evolution is portrayed by a profusion of illustrations such as never previously gathered between the covers of one book. Many hundreds of carefully-selected photographs, highly-detailed cutaway drawings, superb full-tone and colour drawings, and the most accurate line general-arrangement and comparison drawings ever to portray their subject, support what is unquestionably the most authoritative text ever written concerning this intriguing aspect of military aircraft evolution.
But the author does not confine himself solely to the aircraft themselves, their attributes and shortcomings, or the innumerable variants of the principal warplanes that were developed in Germany during those dramatic years. His text is as much concerned with their background. He discusses the requirements leading to their birth; the individuals that played major roles in their evolution, and their operational careers, from the Spanish Civil War, the campaigns in Poland, France, and the Low Countries, the 'Battle of Britain', to the Eastern Front and the final debacle over the dying embers of the Third Reich. Furthermore, the service careers of German aircraft during this stirring period of history with the air arms of other countries, such as Hungary, Finland, Rumania, and Slovakia, are fully described.
Embodying hundreds of detailed specifications, more than two thousand illustrations, a full-colour section illustrating finishes and unit heraldry, and a vast amount of information never previously published, the Warplanes of the Third Reich is unquestionably destined to be universally accepted as the definitive work on this facet of the most fascinating period in the history of military aviation.
by William Green
Published by Macdonald 1970 1st edition. 672pp profusely illustrated with b&w photos, line drawings, 3 view cutaway, and half tone drawings plus 8pp colour drawings. 23x29 in black cloth "Iron Cross" boards , light foxing to top & fore edges otherwise fine, d/j near fine with 45mm closed tear at head of spine.
William Green's standard reference work on aircraft of the Luftwaffe.
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Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.
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Fighters of the Luftwaffe | The Luftwaffe: A Photographic Record 1919-1945 | The Luftwaffe Album |
