Title: The First and the Last
Author: Adolf Galland
ISBN: 1841450200
Publisher: Cerberus Press
Stars: 4 (out of 5)
The "First and the Last" are the memories of German ace (103 victories) and General der Jagdflieger, Adolf Galland, the book record Galland experiences from the invasion to Poland to the end of the war when he become a Allied POW in Germany.
The book is interesting because it didn't take an apologetic approach toward the Third Reich, in fact Galland give harsh criticism to Hitler and Goering, although personally I think you have to wonder how much of this is "real" criticism that Galland felt at the time and how much of this is the result of the twelve years (the book was first published in 1957) since the end of the war, Galland also give an intresting version regarding the flight of Rudolf Hess to Britain, no doubt one of the most bizarre incidents in the war, I also think that the claims of Galland that the entire delay in the production of the jet is entirely Hitler's fault isn't true.
Much of the book is dedicated to the harsh criticism of Goering, Galland also give his version to the "rebellion" that happened against Goering toward the end of the war.
To conclude it's give an interesting look to "the other side" of the war, also the analyse of the factors that caused the Luftwaffe failure is certainly interesting since this book was writing by an ex-general who was familiar with the system from the inside.
