The daylight strategic air campaign over the German Reich during the Second World War was one of the longest and most intense air battles in history, involving thousands of aircraft, dozens of units, and hundreds of separate aerial engagements. Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich presents a unique look at the German defences as they struggled to cope with the threat posed by the two American strategic air forces which were charged with destroying Germany's critical war industries and wresting control of the air over the Reich from the Luftwaffe. The previous volume in this series, The Luftwaffe Over Germany, is a narrative history of these defences. The present book extends the story in an unprecedented fashion, and is based on documents in the German, American and British government archives and German pilot logbooks from the author's extensive collection. AUTHOR: Donald Caldwell is a retired research chemist. For the past 25 years he has researched archival sources and interviewed veterans, primarily from the Luftwaffe. His first book, JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, has been followed by four others on the Luftwaffe: all have won critical and popular acclaim for their accuracy, objectivity, and readability. ILLUSTRATIONS: 160 photographs *
