The birth of the Luftwaffe Hanfried Schliephake.

Work behind the scenes -- The early years of the build-up -- The Luftwaffe takes shape -- The Luftwaffe as Sabre-rattler -- Flying into darkness -- Appendix A. Structure of organisation for co-operation between the Reichswehr and Red Army -- Appendix B. Aircraft stock of the German Air Training School at Lipezk/Russia -- Appendix C. Code-designations of the Luftwaffen units during the activation period -- Appendix D. Designation of Luftwaffe units and aircraft and unit markings -- Appendix E. Fighter aircraft markings -- Appendix F. Military aircraft markings -- Appendix G. Activation survey of the operational flying units of the Luftwaffe -- Appendix H. Leaders of the fighter, ground attack and Kampfgruppen zbV -- Appendix I. Luftwaffe and RAF rank equivalents.

As any propagandist, or advertising man, will tell you : if a statement is repeated often enough it will usually come to be accepted as fact. No body of men was ever the subject of a greater or a more sustained barrage of false propaganda than the Luftwaffe between 1933 and 1945, much of it coming from the Germans themselves. But, behind the propaganda facade, accurate and detailed records were being kept. By making available this painstakingly - accurate account of the German Air Force between 1918 and 1939, based on official records made at the time, Hanfried Schliephake is performing a great service to historians. Such a book has been long overdue. Hanfried Schliephake flew with the Luftwaffe in the Second World War, and today he holds the rank of Hauptmann in that force. He is, therefore, professionally well qualified to sift through and evaluate the mass of research material he has gathered for this work. With his text, the author has included more than two hundred photographs, scores of them new or rarely published, which effectively show every facet of the re-creation of the German air arm. The outcome is a highly detailed account which crushes many previous myths, giving us an intimate view of the building of the Luftwaffe: the force which was to become, during the first half of the Second World War, the terror of Europe.