Christopher Ailsby

This is a real nice book, a large format softcover. Even more so especially since I picked it up at Daedalus's warehouse remaindered for $6.98. Let's start with the blurb: Profusely illustrated with black and white photographs—many previously unpublished—on nearly every page, Hitler's Sky Warriors is a detailed examination of the battles and campaigns of the Third Reich's airborne forces, or Fallschirmjäger. Beginning with the origins of airborne forces during World War I, this volume investigates the development of the concept of airborne assault by the Nazis in the 1930s and the creation of the 7th Flieger Division and continues with a discussion of the airborne invasions of Norway, Belgium, Holland, Greece, and Crete and numerous ground campaigns during World War II. The volume also features information on weapons and equipment, as well as biographical details on leading Fallschirmjäger commanders. Sounds good, eh? Well...it's not quite like that really. The fous of the layout is the pictures, and it should be, they are really good pictures, all ones I have never seen before. And the captions are FIRST rate. The author, apparently an expert in decorations and uniforms, is able to tell you quite a bit about each photo. As a result, each caption is more on the order of a small paragraph. With 1-3 pictures per page and captions like that, there isn't a whole lot of room left on each page for prose. And that is fine, the prose is far and away the weakest part of the book. OK, sure there is the history of the Fallschirmjäger from it's inception, but it is pretty thin and focuses on when such and such formation was raised and who commanded it from when to when. It's like the author took a list of Fallschirmjäger units and commanders from the web and tried to turn it into a history text. It doesn't hold up mostly on the grounds of uneveness. You get great detail about a few units and commanders down to the batallion level, but other formations not so much. That doesn't mean it's without value. For a broad overview, it works. But if you are looking for an authoritative reference, this isn't it, as I noted, it seems too uneven for that. Maybe the addition of tables would help, I don't know. However, for the casual reader, the prose is probably more detail on commanders and formations than you want. For the casual student, wargamer or afficiadio to this period, it is probably fine. IMHO what's missing is details on the tactics employed by the Fallschirmjäger and more details on the battles fought and how they did. That would really cement it's place as a must have book. As it is, the pictures are terrific and the captions really make this book a steal even at full price ($20) if you can find it.… (plus d'informations)