Title: Black Cross Red Star Vol I
Authour: Christer Bergstrom & Andrey Mikhailov
Publisher: Pacifica Military History
ISBN: 0-935553-48-7
Stars: 5 (out of 5)
Picked this book up from another member on another forum with some others. Having heard a lot about this series I figured I should pick it up.
This book starts off with some excellent explanations on the how the air war was so successful for the Germans in the opening days. The book goes on to explain just how the Russians were caught off guard and why they lost so many planes both in the air and on the ground. There was info in there, on the political situation for Russia, the leaders on the ground and the decisions they made and why for both the Germans and Russians. Some of the info was new to me and answered a lot of the "How was it possible?". There are some very good descriptions on some of the Russians' early attacks even against a superior force...incl some of their early victories too. The descriptions of the destruction of the Russian bomber forces both in the air and on the ground is quite sobering.
There are 11 parts broken into 31 chapters. I did like the way that the book goes from a Russian perspective over to a German perspective BUT I did get the impression that the authours were playing their countries sides more than being neutral. If the Russians did 'this' then the Germans did 'that'. Just my impression.
There are many photos from both sides that I liked and are nicely placed through out the book. There are 255 pages for this volume before it breaks into appendixes and bibliography. I fully recommend this book for both those that read on WWII or study the air war in WWII.
Authour: Christer Bergstrom & Andrey Mikhailov
Publisher: Pacifica Military History
ISBN: 0-935553-48-7
Stars: 5 (out of 5)
Picked this book up from another member on another forum with some others. Having heard a lot about this series I figured I should pick it up.
This book starts off with some excellent explanations on the how the air war was so successful for the Germans in the opening days. The book goes on to explain just how the Russians were caught off guard and why they lost so many planes both in the air and on the ground. There was info in there, on the political situation for Russia, the leaders on the ground and the decisions they made and why for both the Germans and Russians. Some of the info was new to me and answered a lot of the "How was it possible?". There are some very good descriptions on some of the Russians' early attacks even against a superior force...incl some of their early victories too. The descriptions of the destruction of the Russian bomber forces both in the air and on the ground is quite sobering.
There are 11 parts broken into 31 chapters. I did like the way that the book goes from a Russian perspective over to a German perspective BUT I did get the impression that the authours were playing their countries sides more than being neutral. If the Russians did 'this' then the Germans did 'that'. Just my impression.
There are many photos from both sides that I liked and are nicely placed through out the book. There are 255 pages for this volume before it breaks into appendixes and bibliography. I fully recommend this book for both those that read on WWII or study the air war in WWII.