A fearless leader with 104 victories to his name, Galland was a legendary hero in Germany's Luftwaffe. Now he offers an insider's look at the division's triumphs in Poland and France and the last desperate battle to save the Reich. "The clearest picture yet of how the Germans lost their war in the air".--Time. Illustrations. (War History)
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A fearless leader with 104 victories to his name, Galland was a legendary hero in Germany's Luftwaffe. Now he offers an insider's look at the division's triumphs in Poland and France and the last desperate battle to save the Reich. "The clearest picture yet of how the Germans lost their war in the air".--Time. Illustrations. (War History)
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Seller's Description:
ACCEPTABLE. 6th printing 1960; 280 clean, unmarked, tight pages with moderate tanning; name and note on first page; foxing/soiling on outer edges; discoloration inside front and back covers and few pages; very light shelf and corner wear on cover.
The other side of the hill for air battles (Germany)
XR1354
Nov 29, 2009
The First and The Last - A Must read for Students
I read Adolf Galland's memoirs of the second great conflict of the last century between England and Germany decades after it was written. To place the historic bibliographies on this conflict in context, the above referenced reading follows Sir Winston Churchill's account of that conflict, as well as the treatises written by William Shirer (The Rise & Fall of the Third Reich); the recent historical account of Mr. Patrick Buchanan (Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War), as well as Field Marshall Erich v. Manstein's account "Lost Victories" (in which references are made, independently of the Galland account, of the amazing incompetence and utter absence of any identifiable strategy of the German High Command - whatever that term "strategy" ultimately led to mean for the German side).
Adolf Galland has been shown by the German Propaganda Ministry in one or two newsreels (i.e. the so-called Wochenshaus now available in short YouTube streaming videos) as a "showcase" hero by Dr. Goebbels' organization. but it is only through a reading of Galland's account that one can appreciate distance between the political and the military in Germany, as well as the real forces and events behind the the eventual victory of the "Anglo-Saxon" (sic) island race against their German brothers across the channel. Galland provides one humorous insight (among many others) in which "the fat boy" (Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering) asks the assembled Luftwaffe Calais leadership, after a series of disasterous raids against England, what suppport he could give them, after first having berated them. Galland replied with his famous (but misassigned in the film "The Battle of Britain")..."a squadron of Spitfires". Galland is gallant! He unequivocally praises the combatants of "The Finest Hour", their chivalry and their bravery.
The First and The Last above all, for the serious student of that conflict, has to be one additional element sewn into the fabric of history, from which, as the distance and healing of time shows, a richer picture of the events and forces of that terrible conflict appears. I will leave it to those students to arrive at their own conclusions about the times and tides which have so scarred humanity both from their intended and unintended consequences.....
sailmaker
Jul 24, 2009
History by someone who was there
Good review about the German Airforce by someone who was there.
FBK001
Feb 5, 2009
A view from the other side
This book has been very useful in understanding the war from the German perspective. I found the impressions, correct and incorrect, that the Germans had of Allied technologies, strategy, tactics and operations and vice versa very interesting. Also the political battles that Galland had in order to try and get his fighter arm recognised and equipped. It is a situation that many operational leaders find themselves in, in times of war, but more so when the German hierarchy was so unable to contradict the Fuhrer. How different things would have been if the ME262 had become operational in quantity a couple of years earlier!!
I had the paperback without the photos but many can be found on the Internet if one searches under Adolf Galland.
OldGeorge
Sep 20, 2007
Exciting story of the German Lufetwaffe
This is an exciting account of the history of the World War Lufetwaffe written by the man who headed it up. He puts you right in the middle of the whole thing. A must for World War !! buffs.
