Luftwaffe Combat Reports - edited by Bob Carruthers (Kindle edition)

This book is part of a series which presents primary sources from several different conflics throughout history. "Luftwaffe Combat Reports" contains a lot of documents detailing standard operating procedures, equipment and tactics. A large part of the book is devoted to interviews conducted by the Allies with senior officers of the Luftwaffe in the fall of 1945.

The book is necessarily quite technical and dry. Anyone waiting for exciting after action reports or personal accounts of battle will be sorely disappointed. The attraction of the book comes strictly from offering material that one would rarely come across in other places.

The majority of the book details late-war developments in either the ground attack arm of the Eastern Front, or the air war against the strategic day and night bombing over western Europe, although there are also some sobering assessments of the Luftwaffe's strengths and weaknesses for the war in general.

As whomever reccomended the book to me on the Too Fat Lardies Yahoo Group pointed out (thanks!), the book is a steal at 6 USD in the Kindle store. The book offers tantalizing behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Luftwaffe and is only brought down by the dry style of the primary sources. It would likely be very interesting for those gaming air combat over the Eastern front or daylight bombing over occupied Europe. All in all, I'd give this book a 4 out of 6 and reccomend it to particularily interested readers.

Leo McKinstry: Lancaster (Kindle edition)

Having previously read Leo McKinstry's book "Hurricane" and found it quite enjoyable, it was a small risk to purchase this book. Leo McKinstry writes very well in a flowing, colloquial manner that makes his books very easy reads. His research and presentation is exhaustive, and I have never found reason to question his sources or use of them.

The book covers, as the cover says, the story of the Lancaster - from the reasoning behind its design, the development process and personality of its chief designer, its service and its post-war use. A lot of anecdotes and technical details round out the picture, and a lot of space is devoted to the strategic night bombing of Germany and occupied Europe. Separate sections are devoted to numerous special assignments, including the very well known Dambuster raids.

If there is anything detracting from the book, it is the systematic trashing of the other heavy bombers used by the British. Although the Halifax and Stirling were demonstrably inferior machines - dropping far less tonnage and loosing far more lives per machine - McKinstry appears to have adopted "Bomber" Harris' vehement hatred for these aircraft, giving a distinctly subjective streak to a book that otherwise appears to be very balanced and objective.

This aside, I considered the book a very good read, excellent both in detail and scope. It gives a good understanding of the background, reasoning, logistics, technology, strategy and people involved in the British air war over Europe.

From a gamer perspective, there is not much to find here unless one has an interest in making night-fighting scenarios, in which case there is a lot! A forumite asked me whether I would game the Dambusters, though I found that there was virtually no air-to-air combat during this raid - all the downed aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery.

In summary, a very thorough book covering all aspects of the Lancaster history. With the exception of the hostility for the Halifax and Stirling, there is very little to detract from this impressive volume. Though it bears little relevance to most of the popular periods and modes of air combat gaming, I would still reccommend this to anyone fancying a good read. All in all I give it a score of 5 out of 6.

Hans Ulrich Rudel: Stuka Pilot (Kindle edition)

Seeing as modelling and painting aircraft can at times feel like a chore, I have found that a certain single-mindedness in my spare time interests is advisable to ensure that I keep cranking out painted aircraft. One of the ways I do this is by reading books and watching TV-shows relevant to my painting projects. A word of warning - watching TV-shows about the Pacific air war or the Flying Tigers can be... trying... when one is fervently trying to finish that last flight of Spits!

This summer, I got a Kindle and never looked back. Still, one of the weaknesses of the device is that the selection of e-books (though massive and growing) is quite limited once one decides to stray outside mainstream American and English literature. Great was my surprise when during a shop search I stumbled upon a book by German pilot legend Hans Ulrich Rudel, who flew more than 2,500 combat sorties during World War II.

Rudel's book details his experiences as a Stuka pilot from the start of the war to the very end, and offer a unique look into the mindset of one of Nazi-Germany's pilot elite. Rudel flew over the Eastern Front, and his book gives an overview of the events that will be familiar to anyone who have been reading about the war. Rudel writes in a pleasant and intimate manner and in the present term, at times making for a very intense reading experience. A mix between down-to-earth strategic overviews, war comradeship, harrowing sortie descriptions and the occasional view of the behind-the-scenes politics of the Reich makes for an interesting and easy read, though the crushing feeling of mounting despair makes the book increasingly disturbing towards the end. Rudel truly did it all and saw it all, again paying homage to that old saying "truth is stranger than fiction".

Unfortuneately, the book was rather meager on the tactical and technical side despite the occasional mention of the subjects. Also be warned that Rudel's political views are not exactly moderate, being a member of the Nazi party and an outspoken right-wing supporter after the war and all the way up to his death. To this day, Rudel remains a hero and icon to many extremist right-wing supporters.

All in all, the book seems very suitable for gamers playing battles on the Eastern Front (whether in the air or on the ground), though from my current perspective (the Battle of Britain), the book was quite irrelevant. Its greatest strength and weakness is that it contains the memoirs of a single person, making its focus admirable though its scope limited.

To sum up, a mix of enjoyable episodes yet (for me) all too familiar strategic overviews makes this book score 4 out of 6 with me, and I would recommend it to people with a particular interest in the subject only.

More information on Hans Ulrich Rudel:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel