Luftwaffe Over Germany: Defense of the Reich - Hardcover

Caldwell, Donald; Muller, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848327412 ISBN 13: 9781848327412

Publisher: Frontline Books, 2014

Synopsis

US Air Force Historical Foundation award for Best Air Power History Book of 2008
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 ground-breaking work explores 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. 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, this is the standard work on the subject.

About this title

About the Author

Donald Caldwell is a retired research chemist. For the past 25 years he has researched archival sources and interviewed veterans, primarily from the Luftwaffe. His first book, JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, has been followed by four others on the Luftw

Review

“Looking for a better book on the German air defense of the Third Reich in daylight during the war would probably be a useless endeavor. The authors have shown that it was a much closer battle than is usually shown to us. The personal accounts show exactly how much the German fighter pilots were wary of taking on American bomber streams, and for good reason. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone who has an interest in the air war over Germany from 1939-1945.” (A Wargamers Needful Things)

About this edition

• Publisher: Frontline Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1848327412
• ISBN 13: 9781848327412
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336