[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Ed,

Some of the points you mention are, indeed, covered. As the book notes, the industry went from skilled labor to essentially unskilled labor and had to accomodate production because of this change. The hopes with utilizing contract labor were that some skill levels could still be brought to the tasks at hand. Even with the use of slave labor, initial efforts were focused on trying to go with those inmates that possessed skills.

Germany's conflicting goals of increased production and eliminating the Jews resulted, to a great extent, in treating concentration camp inmates as expendable resources, denying them adequate sustenance and care, literally working them to death. Add to this the brutality of their SS guards and Germany chewed up the one resource that they really needed. It was a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face, a self-inflicted wound.

I found the book full of insight. Whether you want to spend the $45 to gain a basic understanding of the background to production of all those aircraft is up to you. I find it all fascinating. My view is I want to get beyond just X number of aircraft A produced and understand the background behind the numbers. Was the effort, in retrospect, worth it? Did Germany fail to address issues that could have made a meaningful difference? How did the war in the east affect the aviation industry? How did Allied strategy affect German planning?

What if, trying to project the potential ramifications of its planned actions, Germany would have chosen different objectives that might have resulted in a different outcome? In reading the book, you get an armchair view of where mistakes were made. That's not to say they weren't going to make them anyway, but you do develop a much better understanding of how they ended up losing the war.

Regards,
Richard