The Luftwaffe War Diaries by Cajus Bekker

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Book The Luftwaffe War Diaries
Author : Cajus Bekker
Pages : 386
Photos : 108 and maps
Published : 1964; new version 2001

This is a history of the Luftwaffe, from its first offensive against Poland in 1939 to its demise in 1945. It concentrates more on the early war years as, the author believes, it is during this period that the major actions and decisions that affected the outcome of the war took place. In fact Operation Barbarossa does not start until p217 and the latter years are covered in p 300 onwards.
It is set out in 11 sections, in chronological order, with a summery at the end of each. The author covers all branches of the Luftwaffe including, command, fighter, bomber, coastal, flack, glider and parachute divisions. The author had access to official documents that had previously not been unavailable to assist in this work.
It does not contain many first hand pilot accounts of action but instead concentrates on describing the actions that the Luftwaffe fought in and the decisions by their high command.
It offers a fascinating insight into how battles can turn on seemingly small actions or decisions and how wars can be won or lost on strategic levels.
It covers some of the ground that is covered by Adolf Galland in his biography, but as he was the general of fighters during the second part of the war,this is to be expected.
This is a well written, well laid out and provides a thoughtful analysis from the German side of the air war.
Although set out as a text book it is not difficult to read and the overall story is compelling if you have an interest in this area.