WGFB: Red Fighter Pilot, The: The Autobiography of the Red Baron

[diceslinger]

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Book Title:

The Red Fighter Pilot: The Autobiography of the Red Baron

Author:

Manfred Von Richthofen (Author), J. Ellis Barker (Translator)

ISBN:

978-0979181337

Category:

Autobiography

Format:

Paperback

Summary:

The Red Fighter Pilot was written by Manfred Von Richthofen before his death and published in Germany before the war was over. It is translated, and between the translation, censorship, and propaganda, the book is jarring and disjointed.
Beginning in the cavalry on the Russian front, this book takes you through his time as a soldier, observer, bomber, and finally a fighter pilot trained under Boelcke.
This book gives you an idea who Richthofen was, but it's disjointed nature makes it a difficult historical resource. I had a hard time figuring out what kind of airplane he was flying, as well as what his opponents flew. Locations seem to be more consistant however.
This book is in the public domain and a web search should turn up a location read it for free.

[Baldrick62]

Thanks for the review. Given the book's time of writing, and the subject matter, it's hardly surprising that it was exploited for propaganda purposes and/or highly censored. I guess we'll never know what MvR actually thought, apart from a few snippets of quotations recalled by his contemporaries.

[Captain Froggy]

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Book Title:

Le baron rouge - Mémoires

Author:

Manfred von Richthofen

ISBN:

978-2-87466-297-3

Category:

Autobiography

Format:

Paperback

Summary:

Edition in french of Der rote Kampfflieger (1917), in english The Red Battle Flyer (1918).
With some letters from the baron to his mother, some memories of his brother Lothar, a complete chapter about the death of the baron with official german and british reports, comteporary newspaper articles from the Daily chronicle,Echo de Paris, Berliner Zeitung am Mittag and other testimonies, and a short chapter entitled the controversy the death of the baron.

Essential book for all French readers ! And a very easy reading.