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Re: That NEW JG300 unit history: How'd you rate it?
I won't compare Lorant's book with Prien's, as I didn't own them, but I can make the comparaison between Lorant and Caldwell.
Lorant is IMOO better because there are far more personnal recollections or reports, and the fate and action of individuals are the main part of the book. While JG 26 book may be compared to a unit war diary with some first-hand accounts and references to the Allied side (with also first-hand accounts), Lorant books have combined the unit war diary with a huge number of personnal recollections and documents.
As for giving the view from the other (Allied) side, Lorant is providing data on Allied losses and claims, but it is difficult to compare with Caldwell IMOO. Lorant will often give more precise data from the Allied side (as location, time, sometimes names of Allied fighter pilots lost) but won't try as much as Caldwell to check who shot down who... Most of the times JG 300 was involved in big battles against 8th Air Force, and in these battles trying to determine who met who is IMOO harder than for tactical missions. I have also to say that I don't agree at 100% with Caldwell's identifications of victims and killers of JG 26 pilots, as do other historians (by the way, Caldwell is an historian and I'm not).
Loss lists in JG 300 book are more complete (in the sense that aircraft losses will be listed even if the pilot was OK, as are ground losses) and include the percentage of damage, and also damaged AC.
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