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34 Works 352 Members 6 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the names: Ted Hooton, E. R. Hoton

Series

Works by E.R. Hooton

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Common Knowledge

Legal name
Hooton, E. R.
Other names
Hooton, Ted
Birthdate
20th century
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Occupations
journalist

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Reviews

The story of the Luftwaffe from creation to victorious justification in war is vividly told here for the first time in detail. It is a fascinating insight into a unique period of military aviation, as tactics and technology raced each other, set against the background of rearmament and resurgent German militarism before and during World War Two. Here are the secret years up to 1935, when even the German government was misled as to the existence of training programmes, while barely any effort was made to meet the Armistice demands. Hooton also demonstrates that although the Allies were well informed of Luftwaffe development, they failed to use that intelligence correctly.… (more)
 
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MasseyLibrary | Jan 16, 2023 |
I've been wondering whether this book was worth my time for awhile, as the publisher (Casemate) is as capable of publishing a book you should miss as not. This book is definitely one to miss, and that's a shame, as Hooton had done 80% of the work on the way to creating a worthwhile synthesis of the recent Spanish-language literature on the war. Maybe the author was up against a hard page count, but there was a crying need for such things as a strong introductory chapter, a chronology, more orders of battle on how the force structures of the two antagonists evolved, and so forth. Also, maybe coming up with a strong thesis to test, as opposed to off-handed commentary about separatist tendencies in the Iberian peninsula, was the biggest quality missing.… (more)
½
 
Flagged
Shrike58 | Mar 19, 2022 |
War over the Steppes: The Air Campaigns on the Eastern Front 1941–45 by E. R. Hooton is a study of the air war fought between the Soviets and the Nazis in World War II. Hooton has been a journalist for 40 years and a defense journalist for about 25 years. He has written numerous articles on military history and three highly regarded books on the history of the Luftwaffe - The Luftwaffe: A Study in Air Power 1933-1945, Phoenix Triumphant: The Rise and Rise of the Luftwaffe and Eagle in Flames: The Fall of the Luftwaffe , as well as contributing to several others.

It was the shock that the Soviets knew to expect but pretended it would never happen after the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. Two different totalitarian regimes would face off in one the most vicious series of battles and sieges in history. Both armies were ordered not to take a step back. The ground war was a series of atrocities and the cities under siege endured suffering beyond belief. The Nazi leadership knew the peace between Germany and the USSR would not last. The USSR consisted of Slavs and communists both of which were held in low esteem by the Nazis. The Soviet Union would also be a much-needed source of petroleum (and food) for German war machine that extended their supply line too far in their conquests.

The Germans, even before the attack, probed the Soviet border traveling deep inside the country on reconnaissance missions and to test the Soviet defenses. When the attack came it was decisive. The German ground and air forces moved in on an unprepared Soviet Union. German technology and experience moved quickly and effectively, stopped by only two things -- winter and outrunning their supply lines. Initial Soviet resistance included the use of biplanes so far out of date they had little, if any, effect. The Soviets were behind in other technology including radar and communication radio. As a result, Soviet industrial production moved east and prepared to rebuild and resist. The Germans remained hurt by the overextended supply lines and logistics. The Soviet railways were a different gauge than the rest of Europe creating a transportation nightmare for the German resupply efforts.

Hooten uses released Russian documents, Nazi archives, and personal accounts to bring together a history of the air war in a theater that has been heavily documented in its ground war. Allied arms helped the Soviets but it was their own factories that turned out the equipment that allowed the Soviets to not only expel the Nazis but march all the way to Berlin. Hooten presents an example of a highly trained and skilled military with superior equipment fighting against a poorly trained military (many of its best leaders were subjected to Stalin’s purges) with an ill-trained peasant factory force and inferior equipment. The numerically superior ill-trained and equipped force was able to overcome the highly trained and prepared force with serious supply problems.

Hooten provides plenty of detail and information on the air units and their equipment. It is as much as a study of logistics and equipment as it is a narrative of the war. Perhaps one of the most important and heroic defenses in history as the Soviets held off the Nazis and denied them the much-needed petroleum that lay beyond Stalingrad. An excellent aviation war history.
… (more)
 
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evil_cyclist | Mar 16, 2020 |
I agree with CharlesDeferdinands review. This is serious not popular work of history. I would add it does make clear that there was constant evolution of tactics to try and find a means of winning
 
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Davidmullen | 1 other review | Nov 8, 2019 |

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Statistics

Works
34
Members
352
Popularity
#67,994
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
6
ISBNs
35

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