This book tells the story of seven of the Luftwaffe Aces. Not just fighter pilots but people in all branches of the Luftwaffe: bombers, night fighters, ground support. These men had joined the Luftwaffe a few years before the war, and unless killed were still flying at the end of the war. There is a notable lack of detailed biographical info on many Luftwaffe pilots. Schnaufer and Kittel are legendary, while some like Weiss and Havighorst are less well-known, but deserving of attention. The information is interesting, well-written and would definitely be useful to anyone interested in the individual Luftwaffe members, most of whom do not have full biographies on them.
Most of us who are interested in the history of World War II know the general stories. We know the broad pictures of what happened, when it happened and so on. What was missing, and I didn't even know it, was a sense of who were these men who fought so hard for so long.
This book is written in a story format which is interesting but for factual accuracy, the lack of sufficient references makes it difficult to use it as a source for scholarly work.
Verdict: Good read. There are a number of typographical mistakes which got through the editing process.
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