Fighter General: The Life of Adolf Galland

Today the most famous German fighter ace and airman of his generation, Adolf Galland began WWII as a lieutenant and squadron commander, flying biplanes. He ended the war as a Lieutenant General -and was again a squadron commander - flying Me-262 jets. In all of aviation history there is no comparable rise and fall by a fighter pilot. Galland's story is simultaneously that of the Luftwaffe Fighter arm, in which he served from foundation to finish. Fighter General illuminates for formative years of the young Galland, determined to become a Lufthansa airline pilot under the ailing Wiemar Republic. His sailplaning career, recruitment into the secret "Black Luftwaffe" and his service with the Condor Legion in Spain, give a pilot's picture of a crisis-filled era. His star rises steeply with the outbreak of war. He becomes a Georing protégé rapidly promoted to command the elite JG-26 on the English Channel coast. A highly decorated ace in the Battle of Britain, he is soon at loggerheads with