Gotterdammerung 1: Luftwaffe wrecks and graveyards (Gotterdammerung S.)

Military aircraft boneyards hold a strange attraction for many of us. Seeing once mighty warbirds rotting away bring to mind past glories. Brett Green's GOTTERDAMMERUNG, LUFTWAFFE WRECKS AND RELICS may be the ultimate a/c boneyard book, presenting, as it does, smashed and crashed Luftwaffe warbirds. A 2006 Ian Allan release, Green's book should be catnip for Luftwaffe enthusiasts.Topping off at 96 pages, Green's book displays and describes various GAF wrecks in a roughly chronological order. There are sections on BoB wrecks, Balkans/MTO wrecks and ETO wrecks, nightfighter and wrecks along with a final chapter on modelling the Me 262.The book features over 130 images, 19 in full color. Each pix is well-reproduced and extensively-captioned as to markings and color. Artist Tom Tullis contributes 19 nicely-done color profiles and scrap-views of various FW 190s, Me 110s, Bf 109s, Me 262s, etc.Frankly, if I'd had a vote, I would have opted for more pages on the actual a/c and ditched the modelling the Me 262 chapter.In any case, GOTTERDAMMERUNG is a visually delightful time-capsule look back at some legendary warbirds in extremis. Recommended.*****7,550 Helpful Votes!

its ok.

This unusually named book by the prolific author, Brett Green is in reference to the apocalypse in Norse mythology. Roughly translated to mean "Twilight of the Gods" and is a fitting name once you see the amazing photos of crashed, crushed and otherwise destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft.At first you kind of feel sick for the loss of such fantastic aircraft until you are reminded what they were used for and the cost in lives and treasure needed to destroy them. The end result was the only conclusion that these machines of war could have come to.I have set eyes on a lot of pictures of World War II aircraft. And I mean A LOT! I have never seen about three quarters of the photos in this book. They are simply astonishing! Interpreting black and white photos into color is an art, the supposition of the author and artist are logical and well researched.Speaking of the Artist, Brett wrangled in Tom Tullis, one of the premier aviation artists in the world, to illustrate the color profiles with an emphasis on unusual markings or new schemes not seen before. The color profiles are stunning. Some of the nicest I have seen published. Mr. Tullis is at the top of his field and the addition of his art lends itself well to this book.Mr. Green consulted with some of the foremost experts in Luftwaffe colors before coming to terms with interpreting the photos paint schemes. Brett himself is considered one of the top authorities in this fine art but will be the first to tell you that good research and patience is proving this subject to be an evolving and amazingly complex topic.There is a tantalizing little tag at the bottom of the book which reads "NUMBER 1" below the author's name. Is this telling us that there is a series coming in our near future? I anticipate so. Another little bonus is the Classic Publications catalog of the brilliant Jagdwaffe series on the inside of the front cover with the rest of the series on the inside of the back cover. Now you know what books you are missing from this great publishing company.I found myself pouring over the photos in detail, finding something new each time. I was continually amazed at the quality of the photos and information that is placed in the book in chronological order. Reading the text is easy and very interesting. The color photos are fantastic and very well rendered on high quality paper softbound in the Classic Publications format.At the end of the book you also get some models that are extremely well made and photographed. All of them are inspiring and a real treat for us modelers. I highly recommend this book for researchers, historians and model builders. The color schemes could keep you busy for years. This book is a must addition to your aviation history library.

I must say I expected more from this title. It still seems the same old photographs of the same old junked aircraft. Although I like the Me/Bf 109, the majority of the photos are centered on this type. I guess I expected more "previously unpublished" photos and material. The section on models of the aircraft shown in the book seems out-of place in this title. Still, it is well written and well, put together. The effort put into interpreting colors form the black-and-white original photos is enviable.

There is little of interest to aviation enthusiasts (other than aero modellers)in this work. Descriptions of the aircraft with the exception of the colour schemes, are poor. Many of the photographs are of poor quality and their inclusion often seems quite pointless.