Black Cross Red Star – Air War over the Eastern Front : Volume 6, From Kursk to Kiev July-November 1943

Earlier volumes in the Black Cross Red Star: Air War Over the Eastern Front series have examined campaigns that at least received some attention in English-language literature. This volume, however, tells the story of vast air battles between the Germans and the Soviets—battles of staggering scale, with thousands of aircraft shot down and airpower playing a decisive role in the outcome on the ground—that have been almost entirely ignored by historians.

The air battle over Germany between the Western Allies and the Luftwaffe is one of the most well-known chapters in the history of aerial warfare. The three months of August, September, and October 1943 form a focal point in that story. Yet during this same period, four times as many Soviet aircraft were shot down as the British and Americans lost over Germany, and Luftwaffe losses in the East were three times greater than those suffered in the defense of the Reich during the same period.

With Black Cross Red Star, Volume 6, these epic air operations and battles are, for the first time, given the comprehensive account they deserve—shedding new light on the course of World War II in Europe and placing the air war in its true perspective.