Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Beale
I understand German and I wouldn't want to be without it. On the other hand, some very good work is done by people who know very little of the language. It's when people who don't know German don't check with someone who does that trouble arises, I think.
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My answer is more related to the discussion in the thread on the Ju 87 book.
Unfortunately, I can only express myself in bad English. (I also have no plans to write a book about the Spitfire.
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The problem is, very few readers can really judge the quality of a book. I can not judge the quality of the other books by Smith/Creek or others, eg on the He 177 or Do 335. But I fear that books are just as bad. An important reason is the lack of German language skills.
What I miss is the contact with the former employee. I met a lot of them, so Mr. Cyron, which worked 1935/36 in the design office with Mr. Gassner. I met Mr. Pohlmann (designer of the Ju 87), just before he died. During these discussions, you will receive invaluable information.
All the books that relate to my area of expertise (Junkers) and coming from UK / U.S. are simply bad. I only know of one good publication on Junkers aircraft: Kössler/Ott: Die großen Dessauer. This is in German.
Another example is
this book: This is so bad that I had to cry when reading. Incredible mistakes inside. Unfortunately, I appear in the acknowledgments, as Mr. Petrick forwarded some information from me to Smith / Creek.
BTW: German publishers also produce a lot of bad books.
Regards
Peter