The Luftwaffe: A Study in Air Power 1933-1945

There has not been an in-depth history of the Luftwaffe published for many years and and this scholarly one-volume survey of the history of the Luftwaffe will become the leading reference work on the subject. The author is a well-respected military, aviation and naval historian, who has been researching this subject for many years in order to bring the latest information on and analysis of the Luftwaffe together in this work of reference. The book covers the history, campaigns, strategies, commanders and personalities of the Luftwaffe in depth as well as looking at the aircraft, although it does not cover aircraft types in detail. It covers the following specific areas: the prewar development of the Luftwaffe from its beginnings in the early 1930s, the attack on Poland, 1939, the campaigns in the West, 1940, the Battle of Britain, the Mediterranean and North African campaigns up to 1942/3 and the Eastern Front to Stalingrad, the Eastern Front to the end of the war, the defence of the Reich, the war against Allied shipping and the last days of the war. This history of the Luftwaffe gives a fresh and detailed insight into the dramatic rise and fall of one the world's most formidable air forces. Alongside the detailed analysis of campaigns and strategies, the role of significant individuals in shaping the Luftwaffe's destiny is also followed so that human side of the story is given due prominence in this history.

About the Author :
E. R. (Ted) Hooton has been a journalist for 40 years and a defence journalist for about 25 years. He has written numerous articles on military history and highly regarded books on the history of the Luftwaffe, Phoenix Triumphant: The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe (1992), Eagle in Flames: The Fall of the Luftwaffe (1997) and The Luftwaffe at War series (Classic, 2007), as well as contributing to several others.

Review :
The publicity given to the Battle of Britain anniversary in 2010 has spawned quite a few books related to the Luftwaffe. In the main these have concentrated on various aspects of its history, but in this case we get the complete story. This is not for the modeller but for the student of WW2 aviation and is a scholarly publication. It does not include a great deal of photographs and colour artwork, but is probably the most comprehensive history you are liable to find in a single volume. As you might expect we start with the aftermath of WW1 and the ramifications of the restrictions demanded by the Allies. These events in fact made the Germans determined to build up what was, arguably, the strongest Air Force in the world by the late thirties. The effectiveness of a fighting unit is dependent on the quality of its senior officers and their co-operation with each other. This was lacking in the Luftwaffe with disastrous results. The early successes in aircraft design were squandered due to the considerable amount of bickering and downright incompetence of the higher ranks, which made the task of defeating them much easier The author chronicles all of this in great detail, as he does the various campaigns throughout the wan so if you want a one-volume history, then I suggest taking a look at this. A new title in the series is this hefty hardback (over 570 pages!) on the legendary Mikoyan Gerevich MiG-15. This well presented book covers in detail the development, design history and use throughout the world including production in Czechoslovakia, Poland and China and the concerns of its opposition after combat in the Korean War of the early 1950s proving the MiG-15 could out perform any fighter jet the West had in production at the time. The detailed text is backed by over 1000 photographs in both colour and black and white along with line drawings and over 100 detailed colour profiles which really whet the modelling whistle! Photographs include factory shots and detailed close-ups as well as action and static walk-around. Of particular interest from a modelling perspective are the quality period colour photographs Offering great reference for finishing. The 'In Soviet Service' chapter covers the 'Red Five' display team, the Soviet's first jet display team in the very striking red and white colour scheme. The research is quite staggering including lists of known serial numbers and the particular MiG's history worldwide, invaluable should you wish to build from one of the colour illustrations, especially the chapter focusing on Worldwide Operators. The detailed colour profiles of both single and twin seat MiGs feature information of deployment (laid out as an easy to follow table) and excellent markings reference backed up by period and museum photographs. The 'In Detail' chapter is superb reference with numerous factory drawings and photographs of all areas the modeller would look to improve on including wheel wells, landing gear, airbrakes, cockpits, engine- nothing is left out and all of the production changes are presented as fourteen pages of line drawings. With the author's reputation as a world authority on Russian aviation research, this book will surely rank as the definitive publication on the market for the '15' fan, a fantastic 'one-stop' modeller's reference which we'd highly recommend.