Richthofen : Beyond the Legend of the Red Baron

Rating:
Summary: Good bio, but frankly not much new ground here
Review: "Richtofen" purports to "use the newly released archives of the former East Germany" to add some detail to basic outline of Manfred von Richtofen's life. The book does justice to its subject; no doubt about that. The narrative has many first-person accounts, and copious footnotes. But for all that, there's frankly not much REALLY new here at all. Most of what is new is minutae: this victory is not RE8 S/N 05638 but RE8 S/N 61645-type statements.
The author does include the latest research on the Fokker Dr1 and demythologizes that aircraft at least. (Richtofen wasn't overly enchanted with it, contrary to legend, but the fighter he really wanted the DVII wasn't ready.) I was frankly surprised to see a serious gap in the research that I read while living in Germany. The Luftwaffe Surgeon-General pulled Richtofen's medical records out of the archives and made a possibly crucial psycho-physiological profile of him ca 1917/18.
This profile concludes that his head injury sustained in 1917, was serious enough to permanently ground him (even at the time; German medicine in WW1 led the world). He also found evidence that the famous nurse who attended him, Kaetie Obersdorf was a compromise between the Surgeon-General's office and Richtofen/High Command. Finally, and most relevant for Kilduff's book, the profile's author proposes that chronic symptoms from the injury may have impaired Richtofen's judgement: leading to his fatal mistakes on 21 April 1918.
If you have a casual interest in Richtofen or WW1 fighter aviation, this book might be worthwhile. Serious students/enthusiasts of Richtofen will learn nothing substantially new.

Rating:
Summary: Good bio, but frankly not much new ground here
Review: "Richtofen" purports to "use the newly released archives of the former East Germany" to add some detail to basic outline of Manfred von Richtofen's life. The book does justice to its subject; no doubt about that. The narrative has many first-person accounts, and copious footnotes. But for all that, there's frankly not much REALLY new here at all. Most of what is new is minutae: this victory is not RE8 S/N 05638 but RE8 S/N 61645-type statements.
The author does include the latest research on the Fokker Dr1 and demythologizes that aircraft at least. (Richtofen wasn't overly enchanted with it, contrary to legend, but the fighter he really wanted the DVII wasn't ready.) I was frankly surprised to see a serious gap in the research that I read while living in Germany. The Luftwaffe Surgeon-General pulled Richtofen's medical records out of the archives and made a possibly crucial psycho-physiological profile of him ca 1917/18.
This profile concludes that his head injury sustained in 1917, was serious enough to permanently ground him (even at the time; German medicine in WW1 led the world). He also found evidence that the famous nurse who attended him, Kaetie Obersdorf was a compromise between the Surgeon-General's office and Richtofen/High Command. Finally, and most relevant for Kilduff's book, the profile's author proposes that chronic symptoms from the injury may have impaired Richtofen's judgement: leading to his fatal mistakes on 21 April 1918.
If you have a casual interest in Richtofen or WW1 fighter aviation, this book might be worthwhile. Serious students/enthusiasts of Richtofen will learn nothing substantially new.

Rating:
Summary: Richthofen: Beyond the Legend of the Red Baron
Review: I've been more of a buff of World War Two aviation, but have recently been undergoing a conversion to World War One aviation, and it was with great interest that I read this book, as it is my first on Richtofen. Up until now, I've pretty much known the "legendery" Richthofen: the steely, ruthless Teutonic pilot who roamed the skies in his red Fokker triplane. In particulr, as a Canadian, the whole controvery over his demise, is something that I learned about at a young age. But now that I've read this book, I believe that I have a better, more rounded understanding of the true Manfred von Richthofen. An excellent book, well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: The whole history of the Red Baron !
Review: Kilduff gives us, in this great book, not only an account of Richthofen exploits, but a general view of air combat in World War II. Deeply researched and rich with actual facts, this is a must-buy book for any real afficionate of air combat.

Rating:
Summary: A Dry Rendition
Review: Mr. Kilduff's book is a thorough review of the facts, but I couldn't help but finding it a bit dry. Technically speaking, the book is very well cross-referenced and foot-noted, making it an easy quick-reference manual. But I felt it lacked personality. There's an over-emphasis on relating a chronological listing of dates, times, places, aircraft types shot down and serial numbers; and the heavy reliance on using German-language terms can bog the narrative down in places. I still find William Burrows' book RICHTHOFEN: A True History Of The Red Baron from 1969 to be an over-all better read. Mr. Kilduff's companion volume THE ILLUSTRATED RED BARON however, is excellent.

Rating:
Summary: A Dry Rendition
Review: Mr. Kilduff's book is a thorough review of the facts, but I couldn't help but finding it a bit dry. Technically speaking, the book is very well cross-referenced and foot-noted, making it an easy quick-reference manual. But I felt it lacked personality. There's an over-emphasis on relating a chronological listing of dates, times, places, aircraft types shot down and serial numbers; and the heavy reliance on using German-language terms can bog the narrative down in places. I still find William Burrows' book RICHTHOFEN: A True History Of The Red Baron from 1969 to be an over-all better read. Mr. Kilduff's companion volume THE ILLUSTRATED RED BARON however, is excellent.