Luftwaffe

The {{Audio|De-Luftwaffe-pronunciation.ogg|Luftwaffe}} (German: "air force", IPA: ) is the commonly used term for the German air force. The history of the Luftwaffe began in 1910 with the founding of the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte), yet it has not been continuous, owing to the fact that Germany lost both World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945). As a result, the Germans had no military air force between 1918 and 1935 and again between 1945 and 1955.

Select bibliography

There have been literally hundreds of books, magazines and articles written about the Luftwaffe. It is only possible to list a select few here.

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• Aders, Gebhard (1992), History of the German Night-Fighter Force, 1917-1945 (edited and translated by Alex Vanags-Baginskis), Crecy. ISBN 0947554211. (Originally published by Jane's in 1979.)
• Amadio, Jill (2002), Günther Rall: A Memoir, Seven Locks Press. ISBN 0971553300.
• Galland, Adolf (2000 ), The First and the Last, Buccaneer Books, Inc. ISBN 0899667287.
• Green, William (1990), Warplanes of the Third Reich, Galahad. ISBN 0883656663.
• Held, Werner and Nauroth, Holger (1982), The Defence of the Reich: Hitler's Nightfighter Planes and Pilots (translated by David Roberts), London, Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0853684146.
• Mermet, Jean-Claude and Ehrengardt, Christian-Jacques (2002), Les Jets de la Luftwaffe: Aéro-Journal Hors-Série No.4, Aéro-Éditions International (French language edition only). ISSN 03361055.
• Orbis Publishing Limited, London (1974-77), Wings, a part-work encyclopedia of aviation in eight volumes, which included many articles about the battles during World War II in which the Luftwaffe took part, as well as biographies of some of its high-profile airmen.
• Orbis Publishing Limited, London (1981-84) (second edition), World War II, a part-work encyclopedia in eight volumes about the 1939-1945 War.
• Philpott, Bryan (1986), History of the German Air Force, Hamlyn. ISBN 0600502937.
• Price, Alfred (2005), Battle Over The Reich: The Strategic Bomber Offensive Against Germany 1939-1945, Classic Publications. ISBN 1903223474.
• Price, Alfred (2000), Blitz on Britain, 1939-1945, Sutton. . ISBN 0711007233 (1977 edition).
• Sobolev, D. A. and Khazanov, D.B. (2001), The German Imprint on the History of Russian Aviation, Moscow, Rusavia (English edition). ISBN 5900078086.
• Wood, Tony, and Gunston, Bill (1984), Hitler's Luftwaffe: A Pictorial History and Technical Encyclopedia of Hitler's Air Power in World War II, Book Sales (originally published by Salamander Books). ISBN 0890097585.