The Germans developed some pretty incredible aircraft in the last years of WWII and amongst them was the Do-335, Germany's fastest piston engine aircraft. As was the norm, the development of the aircraft was not as quick as expected, much of that due to the deteriorating condition of the war and Allied bombing of facilities.

Though other books have been written on this incredible aircraft, this one covers the subject in depth that had not been seen before, along the way, debunking and number of myths and erroneous assessments that have been made about the aircraft over the years.

Both authors are respected experts in the field of Luftwaffe aircraft, having written extensively on various subjects in the past, including the Do-335. However, this book brings together all of the material collected since then and includes it as well as dozens of photographs not published before.

The book starts with an overview of Dornier up until the time of their joining the request for a heavy fighter/fighter-bomber. It then goes into the long development of the Do-335, including what is known about every aircraft built and its fate. This is followed by a section of project aircraft that were planned and either rejected or had not yet reached the construction phase. The next section is on the test flying of the aircraft post war by the British, French and Americans. The French seem to have had the greater interest in the plane. Then there is a section on the various camouflage schemes, followed by an overview of the airframe and systems. All this latter section includes pages from the official operating handbook and a goodly number of plans of all the different variants flown.

In short, this is the best book on the subject yet published and I doubt if it will be eclipsed any time soon. It is a fascinating look into what could have been had the war continued on and a book that I can highly recommend to you.

April 2007

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