During the Second World War, one German Luftwaffe pilot compiled a combat record so remarkable that he earned the distinction of becoming the premier fighter pilot in the history of aerial warfare! Erich Hartmann, called the Blond Knight of the German Luftwaffe, achieved the staggering total of 352 confirmed victories. Hartmann's incredible combat record earned him the coveted diamonds to his Knight's Cross, but his wartime exploits convey only an inkling of the drama consummated in Hartmann's life and career. Now, at last, the story of Germany's Blond Knight has been told by the award-winning authors of Fighter Aces of the U.S.A and Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe. You'll relive Hartmann's extraordinary aerial achievements, the ordeals suffered during 10 years of postwar imprisonment by the Soviet Union, and his subsequent role in the development of the new West German Air Force.

Some Americans are receptive to a positive interpretation of German military conduct on the Russian front in World War II.

“Reading like a novel, this primary source is a valuable look at the ‘other side’ of World War II aviation.”—Gazette665 Heinz Knoke was one of the outstanding German fighter pilots of World War II and this vivid first-hand record of his experiences has become a classic among aviation memoirs, a bestselling counterbalance to the numerous accounts written by Allied pilots. Knoke joined the Luftwaffe on the outbreak of war, and eventually became commanding officer of a fighter wing. An outstandingly brave and skillful fighter, he logged over two thousand flights, and shot down fifty-two enemy aircraft. He had flown over four hundred operational missions before being crippled by wounds in an astonishing ‘last stand’ towards the end of the war. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross for his achievements. In a text that reveals his intense patriotism and discipline, he describes being brought up in the strict Prussian tradition, the impact of the coming of the Nazi regime, and his own wartime career set against a fascinating study of everyday life in the Luftwaffe, and of the high morale of the force until its disintegration. In a postscript provided for this edition, Heinz Knoke writes of the struggle to survive after the war in Germany, and his building of a new life. Now that the Berlin Wall has been torn down, his memoirs are set in a new perspective, both a valuable contribution to aviation literature and a moving human story.

This myth-busting military biography reveals the true story of the legendary WWII German flying ace—and how his story was manipulated during the Cold War. Over the course of 1,404 wartime missions, Luftwaffe fighter pilot Erich Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills. His storied career contains all the dramas you would expect: frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War. Then, just as Hartmann’s career was faltering, he was adopted by a network of writers and commentators deeply invested in his reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. With each dogfight tale put into print, Hartmann’s legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. Black Tulip digs beneath this one-dimensional account of Hartmann’s life, revealing a man who was neither a full-blown Nazi nor an impeccable knight.

DIVDIVFor the first time, four German WWII pilots share their side of the story./divDIV/divDIVFew perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?/divDIV/divDIVOf all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot./div/div

Here is the life story of the most successful fighter pilot of all time, with 352 air combat victories - who spent ten and a half years behind Soviet barbed wire, surviving prison uprisings, hunger strikes, resistance against the NKVD and forced labor. After being released he was still mentally and physically fit enough to fly F-86 jet fighters in the post - World War II German Air Force. This photo album presents the stages of his life - a man who wished to become a doctor, but whose fate it was to become and remain a soldier. If Erich Hartmann were "only" the most successful fighter pilot of all time, that itself would be noteworthy. But its uniqueness would no doubt fade with time. What makes Erich Hartmann stand out from the crowd even by today's standards is that personal integrity and unshakable character which helped him remain true to his convictions while enduring merciless burdens, and the courage to be tough when his convictions demanded it