Over the years, there have been quite a few books on the Luftwaffe. Your reviewer has a considerable amount of shelf space in his library on the subject so can attest to this. Those books generally concentrate on equipment and specific events. This one is a bit different in that regard. Instead of concentrating on the previously mentioned items, this one goes into the personalities and the politics of the development of the Luftwaffe.

That is not to say that equipment and events are not there, but that they are not brought to the forefront of book. That alone makes this one a much more interesting read than many before it.

Of course, it all starts at the end of WWI and looks at what happened to German military air power following the Armistice of late 1918. Many think that the Allies just took over the country and abolished air power in Germany, but there was a considerable lapse of time where Germany was able to sell off a  number of aircraft as well as use them during internal insurrections that followed the collapse. Even when the Allies took control of things and started rooting out hidden aircraft and components, Germany aviation factories were kept busy building for other countries. Some even relocated outside the country so they could keep current and continue to build planes.

The large number of airmen also were able to either stay with the significantly reduced air arm or go into 'civil' aviation or into gliding. Secretly, the German government set up a training facility in Russia at Lipetsk in order to keep a cadre of aviation officers and mechanics. Though ostensibly working for the Russians, the facility was something of an open secret, though the Allies basically refused to believe reports or considered the facility unimportant.

Then Hitler came to power and his flouting of international sanctions quickly led to their total dissolution in the eyes of the new German government. Though pretending to operate within the boundaries of the old rules, they were for all respects, nonexistent. The rest, as they say, is history.

In addition to this sort of information, the book also looks at all the intrigue that was rampant within Hitler's Germany. Many of those in positions of power were there not because of their abilities, but through other intrigues. When capable men did come to positions of authority, often their attempts to provide meaningful leadership was undercut by petty intrigues.

All of this is brilliantly told by the author, E.R. Hooton along with over 200 superb images and color profiles, the development of the Luftwaffe, its experiences during the Spanish Civil War and the Polish Campaign are told within these 96 pages. One you have finished reading this volume, you won't look at the rise of the Luftwaffe in exactly the same way that you did before. It is a fascinating volume and one you won't regret buying.

April 2007

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