German Aircraft of World War II: Fighters, Bombers, Transports, Seaplanes

by Bing Chandler

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2024

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too lean. Better artwork in this German volume, vs the similar American book-version by the same publisher. The focus is on talking about all the A,B,C,... variant models of each one. The front content page does not list which planes are in here, but rather just:
- Fighters
- Bombers
- Transports, Recon, Seaplanes
- Jet

But...
- It is the cold facts on each model.
- No extra charts (like speed, or load capacity comparisons)
- No good data on how many were produced. The article on the individual model might mention production, but somehow the production numbers are NOT in the singular list of 8 items in a side-bar on each model. (Weight; Dimensions; Powerplant; Max Speed; Range; Ceiling; Crew; Armament)
- entire book is in a light-weight San-serif font.

Strangely it is the San-serif font that is most annoying to me. I feel like I'm reading power-point slides, instead of text.

There seems to be a lot of white space in the book coupled with the skinny San-serif font, thus keeping printing costs down.

I have some other WWII Aircraft Books that I really like, so per my comparison to them, I don't see this as one to add to my collection. But this purely German volume is interesting.

4*

PS - There is another book from the same publisher I got from my library at the same time as this one, and it exhibits these same traits:
American Aircraft of World War II

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kind of book that would appeal to specialists in such things, that would also generate some interest in the general browser, if given a chance. Each main plane the Nazi-built air force of wartime Germany had gets a history, starting with the fighter class (Me109, and the odd Focke-Wulf (no idea why us schoolkids liked saying that name whatsoever)), then bombers such as Dorniers, Heinkels and of course the Stuka, auxiliaries such as transport and floating craft, and helicopters, before the few jets they had a go at – some had a propensity to blow themselves up when landing, which kind of eased the pressure on the engineers, as the damned things had such attritional use of the jets the engines would always need an overhaul long before 24 hours airborne.

Throughout, the visuals (always the prime reason to consider an Amber Book, imho) offer everything from modern diagrammatics from each and every angle to classic photos, so you can really get in touch with the style and technical approach of each bird. The huge issue was that for me a vast amount of my text was corrupted – not the main body, but so many of the titles, captions, box-outs and so on. I sincerely hope (and expect) this is an issue unique to digital review copies, and it might be unique to mine, sod's law. It looks like this is not out in the world as an e-book, in which case I can be justified in giving a strong four stars. After all, for once here the text is as key as the image – this is giving the historical narrative and not bludgeoning with technical data.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen and photographed A LOT of American WWII aircraft of World War II over the years between air shows, and museums. An entire book of the german counterparts was amazing. The german engineering was creative and amazing (please see operation paperclip for back up). My equally history and aviation obsessed son stayed home from school today and we spent the afternoon on the sofa reading and learning about some very unique planes.

Thank you NetGalley and Amber books for the chance to learn something new!

[Ron Baumer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-done book on German Aircraft in WW2. The stories are well-told, and the artwork was spectacular. The aircraft enthusiast will surely enjoy this work.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.