Bombers of the Luftwaffe

Put out a year after publication of FIGHTERS OF THE LUFTWAFFE, Joachim Dressel and Manfred Greihl turned out this volume covering the Third Reich's bombers. Similar in format to the FIGHTERS book, BOMBERS OF THE LUFTWAFFE also shares the same strengths and weaknesses but should prove equally as popular with Luftwaffe buffs. This 1994 Arms and Armour Press release is heftier than its predecessor, coming in at 192 pages versus 160 for the FIGHTERS book. After a quick introduction, Dressel and Griehl survey early bombers, standard bombers, Bomber B designs, high-speed bombers, high-altitude bombers and long-range bombers. Thus the gamut runs from fixed-undercarriage, open cockpit Dornier 11s to the He 111/Do 17/Ju 88 workhorses to less well-known warbirds like the Bf 162, He 119, Hs 130, Ju 290 and Focke-Wulf Ta 400. This time around, the photo quality seems a bit better than the FIGHTERS book but the text is still pretty dry. While not an in-depth history, BOMBERS OF THE LUFTWAFFE is a good summary of Third Reich bombers with basic information, stats and tons of photos. Recommended. ***** Arms and Armour Press combined the two volumes to produce THE LUFTWAFFE ALBUM in 1997. .