Defenders of the Reich cover art

Defenders of the Reich

The Luftwaffe’s War Against America’s Bombers

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Defenders of the Reich

By: Robert Forsyth
Narrated by: Laurence Dobiesz
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Bloomsbury Presents Defenders of the Reich by Robert Forsyth, read by Laurence Dobiesz.

The story of the Luftwaffe fighter arm’s desperate defence of the Third Reich from the growing Allied bomber offensive in World War II.

The Reichsverteidigung (Defence of the Reich) was a do or die campaign that saw the very best fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe attempt to defend German skies from increasingly large formations of RAF and USAAF medium and heavy bombers. Flying both piston-engined and, eventually, the first jet-engined fighters to see operational service, the Jagdflieger employed a wide range of weapons and tactics in an effort to blunt the Allied air offensive across Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe.

Defenders of the Reich focusses on the story of the pilot, his aircraft, his weaponry, his draining, dangerous missions and Luftwaffe tactics against the USAAF and the RAF bombers from the summer of 1942 through to VE Day. They fought until they were all but obliterated as USAAF and RAF fighters decimated their ranks in the air and targeted their airfields in devastating strafing attacks.

Leading Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth uses German and Allied archival documents coupled with interviews with former Jagdwaffe pilots, to tell the history of this last-ditch aerial campaign from the perspective of the Luftwaffe.©2025 Robert Forsyth (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Air Forces Armed Forces Europe Germany Military Aviation
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Critic reviews

Defenders of the Reich has been compiled with Forsyth’s characteristic depth, authority and diligence … For those seeking to understand the USAAF’s daylight bombing campaign over Nazi Germany as it was seen by the “home side”, this history will be indispensable. (Victoria Taylor)
Defenders of the Reich is bound to remain a landmark amid the historiography of World War II aviation … A volume expertly balanced between primary and secondary sources, enriched with personal narratives
Robert Forsyth traces the evolution in command and control, aircraft and weaponry, and tactics applied by the Luftwaffe over Germany during the longest, toughest, most decisive daylight aerial campaign of the war. Both opposing air forces’ experiences are included in riveting detail. A tour de force.
The definitive work on Luftwaffe attempts to counter Allied daylight bomber raids on Germany. Deftly weaving the strategic narrative with myriad personal accounts of the action both in the air and on the ground.
Based on contemporary records and personal interviews, this is probably the best single-volume work on this subject... A highly readable account.
All stars
Most relevant
The bloke narrating this seems to loose interest in it around chapter 17. But I gave up because he ruins it.

The narrator ruins this!

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Really well written, but the way the narrator draws out his words is a little irritating.

Interesting and varied story

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Robert Forsyth is normally a good aviation writer, however, this is not one of his best, and as an audiobook I was extremely disappointed.
The narration seemed that Laurence was bored with the text and as such made the audiobook contents lacklustre and boring. I tried several times to complete the audiobook, but the narration sadly soon stopped me listening.
In regard to the book itself, there are several errors of fact, one being the activity of the Luftwaffe during 6 June 1944. Also, numerous mis-designations were heard, including a B51 bomber? There was a B50 (Superfortress upgrade and RAF operated bomber referenced as the Washington) and the ubiqutous B52 Stratofortress - but never a B51! And there are many more errors.
This all adds up to mediocre attempt at telling a remarkable story of the enduring and fatal destruction of men and machines of the Luftwaffe at a time when the war was turning against them and the task of holding back the tide of allied bombers became impossible.

Great Historical Events downplayed

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