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The German Aces Speak II
- World War II Through the Eyes of Four More of the Luftwaffe's Most Important Commanders
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Military & War
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Very very good! *review may contain spoilers*
- By Jamie Cowan on 11-04-18
Summary
The much-anticipated sequel to The German Aces Speak gives voice to four more of WWII's most noteworthy German pilots.
When The German Aces Speak was published in 2011, Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine welcomed Colin Heaton's and Anne-Marie Lewis' masterful command of interview-based narrative, writing, “[W]hat might have been numbing recitations of dogfights are instead vivid descriptions of life as a warrior during World War II.”
Indeed, it is this unexpected perspective, brought to life by the authors' neutrality and thoughtful research, that illuminates a side of war largely hidden from the American public: the experience of the German Luftwaffe pilot.
In The German Aces Speak II, Heaton and Lewis paint a picture of the war through the eyes of four more of Germany's most significant pilots - Johannes Steinhoff, Erich Alfred Hartmann, Guther Rall, and Dieter Hrabak - put together from numerous interviews personally conducted by Heaton from the 1980s through the 2000s. The four ex-Luftwaffe fighter aces bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their off-duty lives, their lives after the war, and perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler.
Together, the memories of the events captured in The German Aces Speak II continue one of today's most unique World War II series, unearthing a facet of the war that has gone widely overlooked for the American public.
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What listeners say about The German Aces Speak II
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- John Hanratty
- 20-02-20
excellent book
unique insight into the highly personal detailed stories of high ranking officers. critical reading.
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- Pablo Javier Hernández Calderón
- 23-10-18
Absolutely magnificent
Both books are a work of art. As a pilot it is indescribably fascinating. 10/10
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- TKJ
- 28-08-18
German Luftwaffe fighter pilots
Worth a listen / read.... Gives an insight into the day to day lives of German ace pilots with the knights cross , oak leaves , swords and diamonds which are high ranking officers awards for kills etc. Particularly interesting the meetings with hitler .... Not brilliant but worth a listen . Regards, JJ Young
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- zur45
- 01-05-20
Too Slow!
The reader really did not do the book any justice. Book was not as first person as i thought it would be....
1 person found this helpful
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- Steve Dietrich
- 09-01-21
Awesome follow on to I
An awesome first hand account from the top German aces of WWII continuing past the end of Book I . Great account of the last days of WWII, the earliest jets, the end of the war , Soviet brutality, the atrocities, the prison camps and the beginnings of NATO and the resurrection of German air forces.
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- George S. Clover
- 23-11-20
A perspective that should be understood.
Hearing the stories from these pilots was fascinating. To be a student of history should include the perspective of all sides. I particularly enjoyed the stories of the pilots in their later years being able to set aside wartime experiences and meet with allied pilots to form lifelong friendships.
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- garry gilbert
- 01-10-20
amazing
we have pre conceived notions of the germans who fought in WW2 this opens the door to the truth.
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- Mark
- 17-01-20
Ausgezeichnet!
was a good listen. fascinating to hear their side of the story and how the struggle really was. Too bad we didnt listen to Patton and end the Russians back then.
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- Stoobee
- 19-11-19
fascinating
I never get enough of first-person accounts of WWII pilot stories. The German pilots did not disappoint.
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- Shaoxuan Li
- 11-11-19
Exceptional performance by P. J. Ochlan
There has not been many audiobooks, in which the narrator strives to pronounce foreign language correctly. P. J. in this case did a wonderful job. His pronunciation of German words aren't perfect, but very articulate with German phonetic rules, and not heavily doused with an American English accent. The stories are exciting to listen to. Many an occasion I felt like I was brought back to the air wars in their times. It was also a revelation that many of the aces weren't crazy about the ideology at the time, and just wanted to do their job.
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- Anonymous User
- 26-06-19
An excellent follow up to the first book
This book, like the first in the series. takes you into the lives of the Luftwaffe pilots. There are moments when you are laughing, in shock and there's things that the Soviets did that stirred anger. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history or just wants to know more than what Hollywood tells us
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- John
- 25-05-19
Interesting Views from German Pilots
As is the case with the first volume of this book, it provides interesting insights from German fighter aces from World War II. The stories are interesting and are a historical document. What is pretty amazing is how many of the key aces survived the war, even as overall losses increased greatly. It is not surprising that all of these men professed to hate Hitler and especially Goering. It is difficult to determine if they held these beliefs at the time, or if it is simply looking back with 20/20 hindsight. My guess is that the beliefs developed over time as the German defeats grew and Hitler and Goering kept making mistakes. The beliefs probably reached full fruition when Goering called the pilots cowards and tried to blame them for the losses. What is clear is that these were very brave men and that the Allies were very lucky that Hitler and Goering were in charge because they made many blunders that helped the Allies to win the war.
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- Anonymous User
- 19-09-18
Get this if you have any interest in WW2 aviation.
My favorite part of this and Volume One is, most of these guys know and served together. You will hear several of same stories repeated over, except from different points of view. In my opinion it gives the reader a better overview of what these guys were thinking.