Luftwaffe Handbook 1939 1945

An in-depth reference manual on the German Luftwaffe at war.

-- Invaluable Luftwaffe reference book -- Fully revised and greatly extended from the original Luftwaffe Handbook 1939-1945 This is the reference book that anyone interested in World War II aviation should have on hand. This single volume presents a remarkable range of data, from the organization of the Luftwaffe High Command to details of unit identification markings on aircraft. Based on the Luftwaffe Handbook 1939-1945, long out of print, it has been fully revised and extended to almost double the original length by aviation historian Alfred Price. Lists of the strengths, serviceability states, and equipment of units at significant points throughout the war, as well as details of operational tactics of the different units are included.

From the opening shots of World War II in Poland in September 1939, through the blitzkrieg to the fall of France and the Low Countries, the German Army was at the forefront of battle. It remained in the thick of the action - the Eastern Front, North Africa, the Balkans, Scandinavia, North West Europe - right up until the last desperate shots were fired over the ruins of a crumbling Third Reich in May 1945. As the instrument with which Hitler was to achieve his plan for world domination, the German Army was at the cutting edge of 20th-century military technology. Before the emergence of the US Army as a force to be reckoned with later in World War II, the German Army was the most powerful, efficient and well-equipped fighting force in the world.

During WWII the air forces and pilots of the countries allied to Germany played a greater role than historians concede. In this volume, the author has gathered an enormous amount of information on the air forces of eight countries and the various foreign airmen (including Russian) who fought with the Luftwaffe. Their operations, mostly carried out in conditions of numerical inferiority, their successes and failures, as well as the motivation of these aircrew and their often tragic fate are fully incorporated into this comprehensive account.

The Air War, 1939-1945 was first written in the late 1970s when there was very little academic interest in the history of air power. What there was focused largely on combat. The book was intended to provide a global history of the air war by looking at combat, but also the broader context of technology, production, intelligence and leadership. The book sought to address the question of why the Allies in the end won decisively the war in the air, and concluded that Axis air forces were too tied to a narrow conception of air power attached to surface forces, rather than air power exercised in a broader framework of air defense, logistics, strategic bombing and technological development. The book has been assigned reading in military and air force academies for the past forty years. “The Air War, 1939-1945... immediately and permanently altered the way that historians have examined the nature of aerial warfare during World War II. Overy’s ingenious examination of the global nature of planning, building, deploying, and utilizing air forces remains the finest overall study of the topic more than a quarter-century after its first publication... conclusions drawn in this work... are even today an integral part of U.S. Air Force doctrine.” — Dik A. Daso, US Air Force Chief of Staff’s Reading List “This is an outstanding book on a subject in which past controversy has often generated more heat than light... The strength of the book is... Overy’s masterly discussion of the economic problems of sustaining air forces in war and of hitting the right balance between quantity production of current models and diversion of resources to research and technical innovation... Truly this is a book that deserves attention from all those who wish to study, and learn from, the history of warfare.” — G. C. Peden, Naval War College Review “[T]ightly written... The Air War, 1939-1945 is essential reading for all military historians.” — James J. Hudson, Military Affairs “[O]ne of the best books on aviation in World War II.” — Kenneth P. Werrell, Air Power History “An important and successful book.” — The Economist “Highly effective. The result, as so often with sound scholarship, is the ruthless dispelling of myths.” — A. J. P. Taylor, author of The Origins of the Second World War “The Air War is... an excellent and stimulating book which both needs and deserves slow and careful reading. It is an ambitious book, too, and Dr. Overy should be congratulated for breaking down national histories in writing his history of air power during the Second World War.” — Malcolm Smith, The International History Review “[A] recognized classic.” — Richard B. Frank, The Journal of American History “Originally published in 1980 and still the best one-volume aerial history of World War II, Richard Overy’s classic work remains profound and highly original... [it] deepens our understanding not only of World War II but of military history in general.” — The SHAFR Guide Online “[A]n outstanding book... The Air War is a serious and profound treatise that analyses those various military and civilian themes which, in combination, determined the nature of the struggle in the air during the Second World War... The Air War is something of a novelty in aeronautical literature. It is to be hoped that it will serve as a model for other books to come in this important field.” — Alfred Gollin, The English Historical Review “Overy provides operational accounts of the air-forces’ role in Europe... and in the Pacific. Then, and most exceptionally, he deals separately with all facets of the air war: planning, organization, manpower, equipment, and doctrine... honest... broadly informed, and... well-stocked with useful data.“ — Kirkus “R. J. Overy examines the whole war period from the point of view of each of the warring powers and gives us not only a study of military campaigns but also a highly successful examination of aerial doctrine, economic and scientific mobilization, and the political, diplomatic, and military aspects of the management of hostilities. This fine study analyzes the achievements and the failures of the aerial component of the war... This good analysis of many studies done on this subject... makes possible a new, balanced synthesis from an objective point of view.” — Sam H. Frank, The American Historical Review