The Red Baron
A photographic album of the the First World War’s greatest ace – Manfred Von Richthofen.
you only have to mention the German Airforce in World War 1 and everyone will know the Red Baron. Must be kind of annoying for the other 7,000 members of the German airforce.
This is more than just a picture book though and tells a pictorial story of the Red Baron, not just with his exploits of France and Belgium but his early career as a reconnaissance pilot on both fronts.
The sheer number of pictures available does suggest to me, he was used as as propaganda but that said you cant take away he shot down 80 allied planes. What staggers me in appendix one, is a full list of his confirmed victories with who he shot down, when and with what plane he used.
It does feel like this is a return to Knights and Chivalry – Aerial combat being seen as Tournaments or duels – I guess this is whey they were called Knights of the Sky. But again all of this could have been cooked up as propaganda.
This is a must for anyone interested in The Red Baron and aerial combat of World War 1. There will be plenty of new photos that will not have seen before, I am sure. It is a very interesting topic and the book does revisiting.
The photos of his burial with full military honours by the Allies also goes a long way to show the respect these pilots had.
You can buy the book here from Pen and Sword books.
Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own, and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.
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