The Red Battle Flyer

Description

An interesting perspective on WWI dogfights and the war as a whole, this book is the firsthand account of the life and accomplishments of Manfred von Richthofen – nicknamed The Red Baron – one of Germany’s most skilled fighter pilots whose name remained in history as a cunning and powerful gentleman warrior.

Despite that generally accepted image, von Richthofen’s account was heavily censored and edited by the German propaganda machine, and published as a morale-boosting piece of propaganda aimed at raising the spirits of Germany’s youth, population and soldiers. The book contains accurate accounts about the German fighter ace’s skills as a pilot, exact references to the number of planes he shot down and descriptions of the actual dogfights themselves.

Due to his many aerial victories, von Richthofen was the most decorated pilot of that period. During the war, Germany wanted as much of a psychological advantage over its opponents as the advantage they sought on the battlefield, so books such as this one were quickly turned into materials designed solely to support the war and the specific causes of the country and its leaders. As a result, the heavily edited version of The Red Battle Flyer became so distorted from von Richthofen’s original that he requested it to be completely redone.

The Red Baron was unable to make good on his intention, however, since his plane was shot down in a dogfight before he had a chance. Nevertheless, the outstanding historical value of the book is in and of itself quite intact due to the special circumstances under which it was written. Readers can find out a lot about the war itself from a genuine firsthand source, as well as the mentality of the time and the author’s specific thoughts on a variety of issues, including his views on the events of the war and his perception of Germany’s enemies.
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