Phoenix: A Complete History of the Luftwaffe 1918-1945

Based on forty years of detailed research, the Phoenix Project is a unique history of the wartime German Luftwaffe. Going far beyond a simple description of famous air battles and operations the overall work draws extensively on original documents, secondary sources and contemporary accounts to place the Luftwaffe within its proper historical context, gather together its many disparate components and provide a hitherto unpublished balance to its diverse activities. In addition to the lead role of the combat air forces the history provides a proper emphasis to the largely unsung work of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Luftwaffe ground forces, Signals Service and the Medical Services. It also examines in detail the vital work of the huge training organization and the organization and role of a continent-wide ground organization. All theaters are covered thus placing a much needed emphasis on the Luftwaffe's momentous struggle in the East, a theater of operations that was always more urgent and more vital to the Wehrmacht. Throughout this work Luftwaffe activities are set within the wider role of overall military operations and Luftwaffe activity is therefore placed back within its proper context in the overall European conflict..>The structure of the Phoenix Project is totally unique. Five major themes run throughout the history's constituent volumes - (A) Strategy and Command, (B) Ministerial Activity, (C) Technology and Production, (D) Infrastructure and Training, and (E) Operations. These divisions enable the reader to pursue particular areas of interest throughout the overall work or to look at the interrelationships between the various aspects of Luftwaffe activity.