New book on Me 262 published

Zenith Press has published “The Me 262 Stormbird: From the Pilots Who Flew, Fought, and Survived It,” by Colin D. Heaton and Anne-Marie Lewis.

The Me 262 was the first of its kind, the first jet-powered aircraft. Although conceived before the war, with the initial plans being drawn in April 1939, the Stormbird was beset with technological (particularly the revolutionary engines) and political difficulties, resulting in it not entering combat until August 1944, with claims of 19 downed Allied aircraft, according to the authors. The performance of the Me 262 so far exceeded that of Allied aircraft that on Sept. 1 1944, USAAF General Carl Spaatz remarked that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied daylight bombing offensive.

The story of how the Stormbird came to be is told largely in the words of the German aces who flew it. The book provides the complete history of the airplane from the drawing boards to combat in the skies over the Third Reich. This book features two forewords, one by Jorg Czypionka, Me 262 night fighter pilot, and another by historian and author Barrett Tillman.

Professor Colin D. Heaton served in the U.S. Army and later the U.S. Marines as a scout sniper. He was a guest historian on the History Channel program Dogfights: Secret Weapons and has authored several books of military history: German Anti-Partisan Warfare in Europe 1939–1945 (Schiffer Publishing 2001); Night Fighters: The Luftwaffe and RAF Air Combat over Europe, 1939–1945 (Naval Inst. Press, 2008), which he coauthored with Anne-Marie Lewis; and Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of The Hague and Geneva Conventions on the Eastern Front (Algora, 2008). He has taught history and military history at American Military University since 2002.

The book is available on Amazon.com and other online book sellers.

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