The Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich - Hardcover

Caldwell, Donald; Muller, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1853677124 ISBN 13: 9781853677120

Publisher: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, 2007

Synopsis

The Luftwaffe over Germany tells the story of one of the longest and most intense air battles in history. The daylight air struggles over Germany during World War II involved thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of aerial engagements. Until now, there has been no single book that covers the complete story, from the highest levels of air strategy to the individual tales of Fw 190s, Bf 109s and Me 262s in air combat against the American bomber streams.

This work explores the German air defense system until its collapse in 1945. It examines the detrimental effect of Luftwaffe theory and doctrine on the German air arms ability to defend the homeland once the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive began in earnest. The hard-pressed Luftwaffe leadership attempted to cobble together an air-defense network while at the same time tending to the combat fronts in Russia and the Mediterranean. Units developed specialized tactics and weapons for dealing with heavily defended bomber formations, while senior commanders sought to construct an elaborate command and control system integrating radar, observers, anti-aircraft guns, and fighters. By mid-1944, they had lost the battle - but had exacted a terrible price from the Americans in the process.

The product of a ten-year collaboration between two noted Luftwaffe historians, this work fills a major gap in the literature of World War II. The authors have examined original war diaries, logbooks, doctrine manuals, after-action reports, and interviews with many combat veterans to produce a richly detailed account.

Illustrated with nearly two hundred photographs, as well as new maps and diagrams, Luftwaffe Over Germany is certain to become the standard work on the subject.

About this title

About the Author:

Donald L. Caldwell is a retired research chemist who lives in Lake Jackson, Texas. For the past 25 years he has researched archival sources and interviewed surviving veterans, primarily from the Luftwaffe. His first book, JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe has been followed by four others on Luftwaffe topics; all have won wide critical and popular acclaim for their accuracy, objectivity, and readability.Richard R. Muller is Professor of Military History at the United States Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, where he teaches courses in airpower history, strategy, technology, and innovation. He is the author of The German Air War in Russia (1992) and (with James S. Corum) The Luftwaffe's Way of War: German Air Force Doctrine 1911–1945 (1998), as well as several articles and book chapters.

Review:

World War II, October 2007

 “Drawing on newly available primary sources, the authors offer a solid account of day fighter operations against the American strategic bomber operations, as well as analyses pulled from German participants and official observers ... The extensive combat recollections taken from interviews and firsthand accounts paint a desperate picture of shrinking numbers of fighters and crews, a diminishing industrial base, disappearing oil resources, and increased political infighting – even as top Nazi officials like Göring still continued to fantasize that the Reich would ultimately triumph.”

About this edition

• Publisher: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1853677124
• ISBN 13: 9781853677120
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336