Hitler's Luftwaffe - Tony Wood and Bill Gunston
Hitler's Luftwaffe - Tony Wood and Bill Gunston
A Pictorial history and technical encyclopedia of Hitler's air power in World War 11.
Hardcover, ISBN - None
Publisher: Leisure Books-, 1984 reprint
Condition: Very Good. Hardcover. This book is in very good condition. The cover has some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Protected with a Cellophane cover.
A concise and penetrating analysis of the powerful German air machines of World War II includes a technical directory filled with statistical information on aircraft production, a glossary of terms, more than 250 authentic photos, and more than 130 full-color illustrations.
" This book has been part of my life since I was about 15 years old, and my copy has been read and re-read umpteen times. So, before I begin my full review, be aware that my opinions and analysis of Hitler's Luftwaffe is going to be very biased. Nostalgia and the overarching attachment I have with my copy will undoubtedly colour my judgement. Having said that, I am going to try and be fair in what I observe about Wood and Gunston's work, and this is not a flawless book. It is a significant contribution to the historical literature about the air force and aircraft of the Third Reich, yet it is not the bible on this subject. It is, however, a superb introduction and one I have no qualms in recommending.
Structurally this book is divided into two separate parts, with the first a general history of the Luftwaffe from its origins before the advent of the Nazi regime in 1933, through to its final extinction as an air force at the end of the Second World War in Europe. Condensed within 117 pages, with copious illustrations to support the text, the historical narrative is both soundly articulated and well presented. Overarching strategic issues, organisational matters, key events and personalities, aircraft types and inventory, and the successes and failures of the Luftwaffe are given coverage in such a way as to ensure the reader understands the core matters of the subject. Wood's contribution to the book is very serviceable, and I suspect that many readers (including yours truly) have taken what he has written and used this to further their study of the wartime German air force.
Having said this, there are some problems with this section of Hitler's Luftwaffe. Due to the condensed nature of the narrative in the book there are abbreviations in the history that are limiting. For example, there is scant coverage of the air combat operations flown by the Luftwaffe in the opening campaigns of the Second World War. The invasion of Poland is given only a couple of columns, and more could have been done with the Luftwaffe's role in the offensive against the west in May-June 1940. The Battle of Britain is explored with plenty of detail, and latter Luftwaffe operations in the European and North African theatres of war are given due diligence. Yet one feels at times that Wood has had to leave material out of his history.
To compund this slight deficiency of this part of the book Wood also allocates a lot of space in his text to the Luftwaffe's organisational structure during the war, detailing the various deployments of Gruppen, Geschwader, and Luftflotten. This is not a problem if one wishes to understand how the Luftwaffe operated at the highest and at times lowest unit levels, yet Wood intersperses his text with lists of these units in such a way as to distract or muddy his narrative. It would've been preferable if this had been presented in the form of of notes or addenda, or as tables in the back of the book. That there are some occasions where this information is included on the same page but in a more digestible format shows what could've been done. Also, it must be said that Wood never tries to address the obvious issues that would arise from such a widely dispersed and complex organisational structure; the Luftwaffe appears to have never been able to develop a stable and clearly defined hierarchy at both the command and opertaional levels, and this surely contributed to its failure.
The second part of Hitler's Luftwaffe is an extensive series of entries detailing the technical and operational aspects of almost the entire Luftwaffe aircraft inventory, including major types such as the legendary Messerschmitt Me-109, the Junkers Ju-87 'Stuka' and others, as well as aircraft that flew in limited numbers, prototypes and even a couple of types that never left the drawing board. This part of the book is superb, and as an engaging source of information on Luftwaffe aircraft it is highly valuable (especially considering that the book was published long before the internet created a new and more extensive library of technical material). The illustrations, including cutaway drawings of many of the major Luftwaffe types, are excellent and if one wants to just ogle at the pictures instead of reading every skerrick of data then that's cool. Admittedly the operational profiles of the listed aircraft are a little short on detail, however this isn't too problematic. There are dozens of books out there that will fill in the gaps if you so wish to find them.
The most compelling aspect of Hitler's Luftwaffe is that this is the perfect introductory book on the Third Reich's air force. It still stands up to scrutiny today and the formatting of and illustrations in the book are top notch. For all its (minor) flaws this is a title that no one who is interested in the Luftwaffe should ignore. Forget its age and go hunt it down if you can. Believe me when I say this is a must for all students of (German) military aviation history."
