The rise and fall of the Luftwaffe

the long version

"Can it really be true that in 1941 insiders knew the Luftwaffe was a spent force and a failed organization? This remarkable, but little-known book, first published in 1943, argues how pure incompetence in planning and strategy left the Luftwaffe hopelessly stretched and exposed. The Nazi regime designed its airforce for Blitzkreig, and Blitzkreig alone. During the invasion of Poland, 2,500 aircraft were lost on account of a failure to produce any spare parts. When long campaigns set in in Russia, North Africa and Western Europe, the collapse of the Lufwaffe became inevitable. Crammed full of fascinating detail, this prescient book shows how German efficiency was fatally paralyzed by the dead-hand of the corrupt Nazi Party. Herman Goering, the head of the Luftwaffe, was chiefly responsible; his wholesale thefts to fund a lavish lifestyle add particular colour to this picture of woeful neglect"--Page 4 of cover.