Spitfire on My Tail A View from the Other Side by Osborne, Peter ( Author ) ON Apr-01-2009, Paperback

by Peter Osborne

Ulrich describes his 150 grueling missions as a fighter pilot par excellence, until being shot down and captured over England in October 1940.

Genres: World War II, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 30, 1990

About the author

Peter Osborne is Professor of Modern European Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University London and was appointed Visiting Professor of Critical Studies at Yale in 2017. From 1983 to 2016, he was an editor of the British journal Radical Philosophy. He has contributed to a range of international journals (including Art History, Cultural Studies, New German Critique, New Left Review, October, Telos and Texte zur Kunst) and to the catalogues of major art institutions (including Manifesta 5, Tate Modern, Biennale of Sydney, Walker Art Center Minneapolis, Office of Contemporary Art Norway, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design Oslo, CGAC in Santiago de Compostela, and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León.)
He has recently held Visiting International Chairs in the Philosophy Department at the University of Paris 8 (2012 & 2014) and in ‘Philosophy in the Context of Art’ at the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (2015).
His books include The Politics of Time: Modernity and Avant-Garde (1995; 2011), Philosophy in Cultural Theory (2000), Conceptual Art (2002), Marx (2005), El arte mas alla de la estetica: ensayos filosoficos sobre el arte contemporaneo (2010), Anywhere or Not at All: Philosophy of Contemporary Art (2013) and The Postconceptual Condition (2018).

Reviews

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rather unique book - a memoir of a Luftwaffe fighter pilot, covering his life and experiences from childhood to the day he was shot down and taken prisoner during last days of Battle of Britain. It is extremely interesting read, but not for the obvious reasons. Those who will pick up this book in hope of reading riveting descriptions of dog-fights with Spitfires and Hurricanes will be gravely disappointed; there is precious little of that sort of material in this book. But for a person interested in the period and the topic, Steinhilper's memoirs will offer unique insight into everyday life of a young German man growing up in post-WWI Germany and becoming an officer in fledgling Luftwaffe. The accounts of his training to become a pilot and later on his career as officer are something of an eye-opener. For me personally, his explanation of what motivated him during that time was equally informing. The greatest value of this book is however the unique insight into Luftwaffe of 30-ies and early period of the war. It is obvious that he has a score to settle with some of the higher-ups (he pretty much shreds Adolf Galland into pieces), but regardless of at times whiny tone, Steinhilper exposes in his book some rather critical, but not widely known, flaws in the structure of Luftwaffe.

"Spitfire on My Tail" isn't a book for everyone. Once again, there is very little "action" in it. However, for serious students of the period, this book is a rare gem that I recommend wholeheartedly.

[Robinhj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of combat action but an interesting view of the early air war from the German side.