Please Tell Me About 2 Books

[SteveR]

Following on from my other thread on this board in which I wrote (in part):

Back in high school and college I took German classes for 5 years and had become fairly fluent. Those classes ended in 1983 however...

Early this year I decided it was time to re-learn to read German (fortunately I still have all of my textbooks and dictionaries from long ago). The re-learning process (aided by a translation app on my phone) went easier than expected.

No disrespect whatsoever to the authors (I ask because these were first published quite some time ago), can someone remark on how the following books have stood the test of time?

The JG27 unit history by Girbig and Ring

and

the JG 51 unit history by Gebhard Aders.

Are they still considered to be accurate or should I look for more recent works on these units? What level of detail is presented in these two?

Thanks in advance for any advice or insight on these!

[Stig Jarlevik]

Steve

All three authors mentioned were German pioneers when it came to unit histories, and I think all three, also today, are considered to have been very accurate.

Hans Ring was I believe a German pioneer when it came to day-by-day research. He teamed up already during the 1960s and wrote with Chris Shores the monumental Fighters over the Desert, which in my books was a real water divider and set up a standard which has a become a lighthouse for everyone to try and follow. He was also a fighter pilot expert, his main interest, I think.

As with everything else, the years go by, and new research makes old thesis etc outmoded, so with regard to German unit histories, most of the old Motorbuch's publications have been supplanted by much more modern works with lots of more detailed information than these books you mention, even if there has been no "Prien type" publication about JG 51....yet!

One year ago, I sorted out many German books to leave space for new ones, but both JG 27 and JG 51 remain on my bookshelves.

Cheers
Stig

[SteveR]

Thanks for the detailed reply, Stig!

I agree 100% about Fighters Over the Desert. It's still on my shelf.