My son and I had so much fun reading this book. One of his hyper fixations is WWII. So he enjoyed telling me what he knew while we went through the book looking at all the aircraft Germany used. It was interesting to see the planes throughout the war and how they were different than other countries. We pulled out our other books to compare. If you have an interest in history or like airplanes, this is a good book to read.

Another is a large series that surveys major types of aircraft in a specific historical period - in there case German aircraft in World War 2. The chapters cover major types such as German fighters and bombers. We illustrated with photos and drawings.

The kind of book that would appeal to specialists in such things, that would also generate some interest in the general browser, if given a chance. Each main plane the Nazi-built air force of wartime Germany had gets a history, starting with the fighter class (Me109, and the odd Focke-Wulf (no idea why us schoolkids liked saying that name whatsoever)), then bombers such as Dorniers, Heinkels and of course the Stuka, auxiliaries such as transport and floating craft, and helicopters, before the few jets they had a go at – some had a propensity to blow themselves up when landing, which kind of eased the pressure on the engineers, as the damned things had such attritional use of the jets the engines would always need an overhaul long before 24 hours airborne.

Throughout, the visuals (always the prime reason to consider an Amber Book, imho) offer everything from modern diagrammatics from each and every angle to classic photos, so you can really get in touch with the style and technical approach of each bird. The huge issue was that for me a vast amount of my text was corrupted – not the main body, but so many of the titles, captions, box-outs and so on. I sincerely hope (and expect) this is an issue unique to digital review copies, and it might be unique to mine, sod's law. It looks like this is not out in the world as an e-book, in which case I can be justified in giving a strong four stars. After all, for once here the text is as key as the image – this is giving the historical narrative and not bludgeoning with technical data.

A well-done book on German Aircraft in WW2. The stories are well-told, and the artwork was spectacular. The aircraft enthusiast will surely enjoy this work.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

"German Aircraft of World War II," written by Bing Chandler and published by Amber Books Ltd. belongs, broadly, to that category of books generally characterized as "Coffee Table Books." My review is based on an ARC provided to me by the publisher. The book looks at several categories of aircraft in use, or almost in use, by the Luftwaffe during World War II: these are, Fighters/Bombers/Transports/Seaplanes and, addressed separately, jet and rocket aircraft. Of course, the book is copiously illustrated with both color prints and vintage photographs, but, interestingly, does not get lost in the weeds of "line drawings" as too often happens with books of this type. The narrative accompanying each aircraft under consideration is operational in nature, focusing on the types. employment, evolution and a few very relevant technical details (things like horsepower, armament and types within the model under discussion). It is very well written and the segmented narrative which addresses each aircraft is easy to understand and well illustrated in the accompanying illustrations. This ability to present a masterful narrative for each aircraft is what distinguishes this book and separates it from others of its ilk. Most of these books tend to focus on highly technical material without necessarily relating their subjects much to their operational environment; this one does not fall into that trap, and therein lies its strength. It belongs in any collection looking at the Luftwaffe and its employment during the war. My congratulations to author on a job well done!

I have seen and photographed A LOT of American WWII aircraft of World War II over the years between air shows, and museums. An entire book of the german counterparts was amazing. The german engineering was creative and amazing (please see operation paperclip for back up). My equally history and aviation obsessed son stayed home from school today and we spent the afternoon on the sofa reading and learning about some very unique planes.

Thank you NetGalley and Amber books for the chance to learn something new!