Fighting Hitler's Jets: The Extraordinary Story of the American Airmen Who Beat the Luftwaffe and Defeated Nazi Germany - Hardcover

Dorr, Robert F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760343985 ISBN 13: 9780760343982

Publisher: Zenith Press, 2013

Synopsis

Fighting Hitler's Jets brings together in a single, character-driven narrative two groups of men at war: on one side, American fighter pilots and others who battled the secret “wonder weapons” with which Adolf Hitler hoped to turn the tide; on the other, the German scientists, engineers, and pilots who created and used these machines of war on the cutting edge of technology. Written by Robert F. Dorr, renowned author of Zenith Press titles Hell Hawks!, Mission to Berlin, and Mission to Tokyo, the story begins with a display of high-tech secret weapons arranged for Hitler at a time when Germany still had prospects of winning the war. It concludes with Berlin in rubble and the Allies seeking German technology in order to jumpstart their own jet-powered aviation programs. Along the way, Dorr expertly describes the battles in the sky over the Third Reich that made it possible for the Allies to mount the D-Day invasion and advance toward Berlin. Finally, the book addresses both facts and speculation about German weaponry and leaders, including conspiracy theorists’ view that Hitler escaped in a secret aircraft at the war’s end. Where history and controversy collide with riveting narrative, Fighting Hitler’s Jets furthers a repertoire that comprises some of the United States’ most exceptional military writing.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Adolf Hitler attended an event without precedent on Friday, November 26, 1943 — a demonstration at Insterburg, Germany of wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) including the legendary Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe" and other jet and rocket-propelled warplanes, all designed by the best German engineers. These advanced weapons, Hitler believed, would turn the tide of the war in Europe. Robert F. Dorr uses this character-driven narrative to profile men on both sides: American fighter pilots and aircrew who battled the secret wonder weapons and German scientists, engineers and pilots who created them. As the Germans built and put into production innovative aircraft such as the Me 262, Messerschmitt 163 “Komet,” Messerschmitt P.1011, Heinkel He 162 “Volksjaeger,” and the Bachem Ba 349 “Natter,” the Americans were confronted with an urgent need to adapt to a new kind of warfare over Europe with their P-51 Mustangs, P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts. Never did men at war face higher stakes. How the Americans and their allies fared against the new weapons would decide whether the air campaign over Europe could continue, whether the Allies could invade Fortress Europe, and how World War II would end. Incredibly, the story ends with another world not very different from the one with which it began.
ROBERT F. DORR is an Air Force veteran (Korea, 1957–1960), a retired senior American diplomat (1964–1989), and the author of over seventy books and thousands of magazine articles and newspaper columns about the Air Force and air warfare. Bob has written for Air and Space Smithsonian, Flight Journal, Air Forces Monthly, Air Power History, and many other publications. He is a columnist for the Air Force Times newspaper and writes the Washington Watch feature for Aerospace America magazine. His book Air Force One, a history of presidential aircraft and air travel, has been praised by critics, and the Air Force Times said his book, Mission to Berlin, “puts you in the freezing-cold cockpit for a white knuckle mission over heavily fortified enemy territory.” Bob is also the coauthor of Hell Hawks! and Mission to Tokyo and lives in Oakton, Virginia, with his family and Labrador retriever.

From the Back Cover:

Fighting Hitler's Jets brings together in a single, character-driven narrative two groups of men at war: on one side, American fighter pilots and others who battled the secret “wonder weapons” with which Adolf Hitler hoped to turn the tide of World War II; on the other, the German scientists, engineers, and pilots who created and used these machines of war built with cutting edge technology. Written by Robert F. Dorr, author of Hell Hawks!, Mission to Berlin, and Mission to Tokyo, the story begins in 1943 with a display of high-tech secret weapons arranged for Hitler at a time when Germany still had prospects of winning the war. It concludes in 1945 with Berlin in rubbles and the Allies seeking and stealing German technology in order to jumpstart their own jet-powered aviation programs. Along the way, Dorr expertly describes the battles in the sky over the Third Reich that made it possible for the Allies to mount the D-Day invasion and advance toward Berlin. Fighting Hitler’s Jets addresses both facts and speculation about German weaponry, including the famed Messerschmitt Me 262, Messerschmitt Me 163, Heinkel He 280, Heinkel He 162, and the Bachem 349 “Natter” and is a riveting narrative from one of today’s best military history writers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Zenith Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0760343985
• ISBN 13: 9780760343982
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304