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Hitler's Luftwaffe
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.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1977
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38 people want to read
About the author
Tony Wood
65 books17 followersTony Wood lives in New York and writes on Russia and Latin America. He is a member of the editorial board of New Left Review. His writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, the Guardian, n+1 and the Nation, among other publications.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 2, 2023
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.
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.
April 29, 2018
Book delivers as promised. 120 pages (half the book) doing a year-by-year/theater analysis of the Luftwaffe. I'll really need to take the time to read all that is provided. Lots of plane pictures throughout. One map. Then the final 120 pages is the "Janes-style" specs on ~150 models of planes. All planes have their development history and a 3-view drawing (front, top, side). Most have additional action shot. Then 21 of them have a big 2-page (usually) cutaway showing all interior components:
Hitlers Luftwaffe Planes with Cutaways
1. Arado Ar 234 Blitz (Lightning) – Bomber jet engine, single seat
2. Bachem Ba 349 Natter (viper) – Fighter, single seat, rocket propelled
3. Blohm und Voss BV40 – Glider bomber/interceptor
4. Dornier Do 217 – Bomber 4-sean (and night fighter/intruder)
5. Dornier Do 335 Pfeil and Do 635 – Fighter (dual engine – w/ front & rear prop)
6. Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) and Fi 256 – STOL, single seat, propeller, 32-109 mph
7. Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu (Owl) – 3 seat recon/close support (P-38 w/ LOTS of canopy/glass)
8. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 – Fighter/bomber, single seat
9. Focke-Wulf Ta 152 – D model of the FW 190
10. Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor – maritime recon/bomber, missile launcher, transport, 4 engine, 5 crew, VIP transport Hitler
11. Heinkel He 111 – medium bomber, 4/5 seat, 2 engine, 1938
12. Heinkel He 177 Greif – heavy bomber, 6 seat
13. Heinkel He 219 – night fighter, 2 seat, 2 prop
14. Heinkel He 162 Salamander (Volksjager – People’s Fighter), interceptor, single seat, 1 jet engine on top
15. Junkers Ju 52/3m – passenger and freight transport (bomber, recon, mine countermeasures, glider tug), 3 engine prop, 2 crew
16. Junkers Ju 87 – Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive bomber"), ground attack, 2 crew, 1 prop
17. Junkers Ju 88 – dive or level bombing, night fighter, torpedo drop, recon, 2-6 crew, 2 prop
18. Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Me 109) – fighter, 1 seat, 1 prop
19. Messerschmitt Bf 110 – heavy fighter, 2 seat, 2 prop
20. Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet – Interceptor, 1 seat, rocket engine
21. Messerschmitt Me 262 – fighter, 2 seat, 2 get engines
Sure, you can get this information from Wikipedia nowadays, but Wikipedia can often be serious over-kill on the information. This book gets to the meat of the information that really matters.
Appendix with Glossary of terms, Luftwaffe Chain of command, and index.
Hitlers Luftwaffe Planes with Cutaways
1. Arado Ar 234 Blitz (Lightning) – Bomber jet engine, single seat
2. Bachem Ba 349 Natter (viper) – Fighter, single seat, rocket propelled
3. Blohm und Voss BV40 – Glider bomber/interceptor
4. Dornier Do 217 – Bomber 4-sean (and night fighter/intruder)
5. Dornier Do 335 Pfeil and Do 635 – Fighter (dual engine – w/ front & rear prop)
6. Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) and Fi 256 – STOL, single seat, propeller, 32-109 mph
7. Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu (Owl) – 3 seat recon/close support (P-38 w/ LOTS of canopy/glass)
8. Focke-Wulf Fw 190 – Fighter/bomber, single seat
9. Focke-Wulf Ta 152 – D model of the FW 190
10. Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor – maritime recon/bomber, missile launcher, transport, 4 engine, 5 crew, VIP transport Hitler
11. Heinkel He 111 – medium bomber, 4/5 seat, 2 engine, 1938
12. Heinkel He 177 Greif – heavy bomber, 6 seat
13. Heinkel He 219 – night fighter, 2 seat, 2 prop
14. Heinkel He 162 Salamander (Volksjager – People’s Fighter), interceptor, single seat, 1 jet engine on top
15. Junkers Ju 52/3m – passenger and freight transport (bomber, recon, mine countermeasures, glider tug), 3 engine prop, 2 crew
16. Junkers Ju 87 – Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive bomber"), ground attack, 2 crew, 1 prop
17. Junkers Ju 88 – dive or level bombing, night fighter, torpedo drop, recon, 2-6 crew, 2 prop
18. Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Me 109) – fighter, 1 seat, 1 prop
19. Messerschmitt Bf 110 – heavy fighter, 2 seat, 2 prop
20. Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet – Interceptor, 1 seat, rocket engine
21. Messerschmitt Me 262 – fighter, 2 seat, 2 get engines
Sure, you can get this information from Wikipedia nowadays, but Wikipedia can often be serious over-kill on the information. This book gets to the meat of the information that really matters.
Appendix with Glossary of terms, Luftwaffe Chain of command, and index.
January 26, 2016
OK I'm a history buff, I love reading a good book that teaches me new things. This was an awesome book for that. Great details on all the major and most of the minor planes of the Luftwaffe. Even has a good section on the experimental ones. Highly recommended
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