[Nick Beale]

I'd agree with Ruy that if you have a serious interest in the Luftwaffe then you are at a serious disadvantage if you don't understand German (or can't call on someone who does). This is even more true when you use original sources. I was "lucky" (not my feeling at the time, of course!) to have learned it at school, as well as French and Latin (just in case the Romans ever invaded Britain again).

AND... so many people here badly overestimate the power of authors. They do not get any say about the languages in which a book may appear. To give you a personal example, when the late (lamented?) Airlife published "Air War Italy 1944-45", they told Ferdinando D'Amico, Gabriele Valentini and me that an Italian company was interested but no Italian version ever appeared. We knew NOTHING of the Polish edition until after it appeared and one of us saw a copy. By the time the Hungarian edition was "discovered" by Ferdinando on the net, it had been out for some years and Airlife was no more - they had never told us about it.

Publishers put out what they think they can sell and that's all there is to it.