Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
I recently scored two books in hardback that are an excellent addition to my library.
"The Luftwaffe Fighter's Battle of Britain"
"The Luftwaffe Bombers Battle of Britain"
204 pages, black white pics, no color.
The books are written by Chris Goss and cover the period from July 1940 and October 1940. The books are companion pieces and should be obtained as a set although they are sold seperately.
If you are looking for a day-by-day account of the BoB or a fact driven resource book, these are probably not what you are looking for. These are personal accounts of individual battles and reflections during the BoB. What Mr. Goss does do is tie in all the loose ends by stringing the personal diaries into a timeline. I really don't read diaries on WW II but they way Mr. Goss has presented this makes it interesting at least for me, and with narratives cut to a few paragraphs, he keeps the focus on the battle and moves the reader along. I love how this works. I have "Battles with the Luftwaffe" by Theo Boiten and Martin Bowman which uses a similar style but the diaries sometimes take two pages which can bog down. Mr. Goss has kept this short and to the point and - like I said - moves the reader along.
Mr. Goss starts each book with about 2 pages of prologue to set the stage and then gets into the BoB. And its not just the LW. He also has interviewed and included the narratives of pilots of the RAF and civilians. Also rounding out the reflections are the actual combat reports so the reader can really follow the action. And don't be misled into thinking this is just single-engine fighters. He gives equal treatment to twin-engine such as the Bf 110 with many stories and pics.
To me the real gems of these books are the pics. At least one to each page and sometimes more, at least 3/4 of these pics I have never seen before. Pics to match the narrative including crash sites in England or of captured pilots. One of the great things about this is the numerous times he combines a pic of a certain Bf 109 (as an example) before an action and then what the same Bf 109 looks like at its crash site. Amazing! As if the written word that Mr. Goss has provided wasn't enough to buy these books then the pics certanly were.
All in all very, very good books. But again, if someone is looking for flat out stats, such as "The Narrow Margin", you won't find it here. In fact, its books such as these that really flesh out and give depth to books such as "Margin" and others. A great addition to the library.
The pics included here are the covers and an example of the never seen before pics inside. (Lucky, you watching?)
enjoy!
"The Luftwaffe Fighter's Battle of Britain"
"The Luftwaffe Bombers Battle of Britain"
204 pages, black white pics, no color.
The books are written by Chris Goss and cover the period from July 1940 and October 1940. The books are companion pieces and should be obtained as a set although they are sold seperately.
If you are looking for a day-by-day account of the BoB or a fact driven resource book, these are probably not what you are looking for. These are personal accounts of individual battles and reflections during the BoB. What Mr. Goss does do is tie in all the loose ends by stringing the personal diaries into a timeline. I really don't read diaries on WW II but they way Mr. Goss has presented this makes it interesting at least for me, and with narratives cut to a few paragraphs, he keeps the focus on the battle and moves the reader along. I love how this works. I have "Battles with the Luftwaffe" by Theo Boiten and Martin Bowman which uses a similar style but the diaries sometimes take two pages which can bog down. Mr. Goss has kept this short and to the point and - like I said - moves the reader along.
Mr. Goss starts each book with about 2 pages of prologue to set the stage and then gets into the BoB. And its not just the LW. He also has interviewed and included the narratives of pilots of the RAF and civilians. Also rounding out the reflections are the actual combat reports so the reader can really follow the action. And don't be misled into thinking this is just single-engine fighters. He gives equal treatment to twin-engine such as the Bf 110 with many stories and pics.
To me the real gems of these books are the pics. At least one to each page and sometimes more, at least 3/4 of these pics I have never seen before. Pics to match the narrative including crash sites in England or of captured pilots. One of the great things about this is the numerous times he combines a pic of a certain Bf 109 (as an example) before an action and then what the same Bf 109 looks like at its crash site. Amazing! As if the written word that Mr. Goss has provided wasn't enough to buy these books then the pics certanly were.
All in all very, very good books. But again, if someone is looking for flat out stats, such as "The Narrow Margin", you won't find it here. In fact, its books such as these that really flesh out and give depth to books such as "Margin" and others. A great addition to the library.
The pics included here are the covers and an example of the never seen before pics inside. (Lucky, you watching?)
enjoy!
Attachments
Last edited:
