NEW BOOK - LUFTWAFFE & THE WAR AT SEA

[DavidIsby]

German language versions of most of the documents do not currently exist. While the US Army Foreign Military Studies series and the US Air Force Karlshrue studies were prepared in German laguage versions and then translated (with significant exceptions), this was not the case with many of the earlier efforts. Any German language versions were apparently considered working papers and did not make it into the archival files or onto the microfilm where they have rested since 1945.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy THE LUFTWAFFE AND THE WAR AT SEA, where you will get to hear from maritime air specialist Colonel Gaul and stuka General Kessler and many others whose story you may not have heard before and may find interesting.

[John Vasco]

I've read this thread with a smile on my face - all this high-flown shit flying around. All the crap about needing a University degree before being competent to write/comment on historical things. Do me a favour! I didn't go to University. Didn't even pass my A-levels either, failed all of them. I was too busy gigging in a rock band in late '60s Liverpool night clubs, so homework went to the wall (shock horror!).

So all of the above does not qualify me to write one word of history. Some may say I should not have bothered anyway. But do I care? No, I don't give a shit. I went out, met the people, went to the institutions, got the information & photos, and out of that came the books. If you like them, great, if you don't, tough, don't buy them. By the way, Adam, I should say at this point that I am not a qualified historian.

The simple rules are: 1) source documents are information which gives the reader (of the document) a guide, but may in many areas be proved incorrect with the passage of time and the uncovering of further information. 2) in setting down anything in writing which is claimed to be 100% correct, the simple legal tenet of 'He who asserts must prove' is the guide by which any assertion must be judged. This second point, however, must not be confused with matters where an author states a belief, rather than a 100% claim. There is a distinction.

There are more important things in life than scholarly bitching. Never lose sight of that. Enjoy what you want to read, as others will do with their readings.
And if you read this Rabe/Jim, you know I do not agree with you all of the time. Hope all is well with you.

Regards,

A pox of a modern author

[Adam]

John,

Are you right there? The reason I identified myself as having qualifications was in response to the initial comment by Jukka where he stated: "It seems that mr. Anton´s primary concern in his continued critiques is not the content but who did it. Any author not having his beloved academic degree is a fraud, liar and incompetent" so please don't get too snitchy. I couldn't agree more with you that it doesn't matter what your level of education is. The point I was making was that as such, under the guise of Jukka's assesment on Rabe's beliefs, I was entitled to enter the debate on a "qualified" level. I would even argue that anyone with publishing experience is "qualified", but then what do I know?

As for the comment on poxy modern authors, it was not levelled at anyone in particular, rather it was meant to highlight, as it was linked to a specific quote by Rabe, people who deem it necessary to over intellectualize - which is why this whole thread exists! I could not agree more that there are more things in life than scholarly bitching, (which begs the question, why not let sleeping dogs lie, John?)

If you took offence at the comment about poxy modern authors then I apologise. It was not meant to single out anyone specific. Merely illustrate points under the guidlines of "qualified historians" (refer above). Would you have preferred had I not identified my qualifications and joined the thread in defence of the works in question on a less intellectual basis?

Adam

[John Vasco]

Adam,

You miss the point. You did it beautifully, but you really did miss it good style.

Now, where was I? Ah yes, back to the Les Paul and Mesa Boogie.

Regards,

A poxy old rock 'n roller of a modern sleeping dog author and a non-qualified historian

[Adam]

Touche!

Regards,

A young, over-sensitive, over-intellectualizing university git

[Brian]

Hi guys - John and Adam in particular

It would seem that John and I popped out of the same egg. I am not a professional historian, I have no qualifications as such, yet I have succeeded (my deliberate choice) in having had some 30 books published to date, with more to follow. All, without exception, have sold reasonably well within the refines of our subject matter, and have generally been well received with some very good reviews from the highest level.

I have always endeavoured to obtain 'personal' accounts of those involved (obviously almost impossible now) and would rather consider myself as a chronicler than an author since, as with most of us, I hadn't been born in the period in which I (we) write about.

I felt somewhat offended when, in another posting, people such as me (and John - and specifically another well-known author) were labelled by a 'professional' historian as nothing more than 'careless' enthusiasts (on the basis of 'errors' in our books), which implies to me that his own writings are 100% factual without any sort of error on the basis that he is a 'professional' historian with qualifications.

In my humble opinion most of the best work on military aviation history of the WWII period has come from the pen of the dedicated enthusiast.

In closing, should anyone wish to dissect any of my 'enthusiatic' writings, please do so. The free 'plugs' might be rewarding! Just Google or visit Amazon for most of the titles!

Cheers
Brian

[Felix C]

Any chance you will be authoring a strictly naval version with all of the papers done by former senior German naval officers?

[DavidIsby]

No, sorry. I did three Normandy and three Luftwaffe volumes and that seemed to be enough for the publisher.

Now, if you could persuade someone to publish the naval studies, it would be a good thing. There are several volumes potentially there, such as Weichhold's study on German surface ship operations by itself.

Someone with a quality scanner could do us all a great service and pick up some loose change selling copies in pdf form!

david isby