30 victories, Aces with 29 to 20 victories, 19 to 15 victories, 14 to 11, 10 and 9, an 6 and 5. Thetop 12 German aviators open the book after the Introduction. Such a German Air Force photohistory is always a popular subject among aviation historians, enthusiasts, and war gamers. Ofcourse, us buffs recognize Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, and Werner Voss. They are wellknown and appear regularly. But the same cannot be said for all the others 300 German whoachieved five or more aerial victories in the Great War. Of course, their stories often have beenpublished, but within the pages of one volume. Here, of necessity, these photos vary widely instyle, format and quality. Yet they serve to reveal a good deal of information about the pilotsand the multitude of different uniforms and decorations they wore. World War I enthusiastswill be mesmerized by all the different types of aircraft the pilots flew, especially the aircraft ofthe top 12. Here, compilers and editor-historians Norman Franks and Greg VanWyngardenresearched, dug up, bartered for, and pleaded with owners for 320 photos of the aces from theAces’ families, state libraries, regional museums, and wherever archives of any kind werelocated. As mentioned, the aces are listed in “score” order, starting with the “Red Baron”himself with more than 80 victories all the way down to Martin Zander with five. Each of thesepriceless photographs is accompanied by a brief service history and victory total of the ace. Afew weeks ago, buffie, you were presented with American and British Aces. This reviewer, likeeveryone else interested in Allied and German aerial wins and losses, was so interested in thehuman faces and body stances of the Aces, as well as the physical condition of each the pilotmentioned, he promptly emailed his publicist at Schiffer Military Publishing begging for“German Aces of World War I” to review for his personal bookshelf trilogy, as well as those of
his fans.
