Sharks of the Air: The Story of Willy Messerschmitt and the Development of History's First Operational Jet Fighter

"Sharks of the Air" started off with such promise, a book supposedly covering Willy Messerschmitt and the development of the Me 262 fighter jet during WW2. The author, James Neal Harvey, appears to have his heart in the right place and seems like a passionate aviation buff, having flown for 40 odd years and has owned and flown a number of different aircraft including a Messerschmitt Bf-108.The author has been in contact with Willy Messerschmitt's family to research his private life during the Second World War and has also tracked down and spoken to a number of pilots who flew on both sides during the conflict. However the author's general or basic grasp of WW2 history is deficient with numerous frustrating and irritating mistakes of general history which puts in doubt the whole premises of the book.The author seems to know what he is talking about in regards to aircraft, flying, design and construction (for a non flyer like me) but his numerous and glaring mistakes in other areas puts that seed of doubt in my mind, his general account of WW2 is so full of mistakes that you have to start doubting the quality of his other research.For example he has Russia occupying Finland in 1940 when in fact Finland ceded only about 10% of its border with Russia. He has the American's attacking Rommel at Kasserine instead of the other way round. He places Guy Gibson from the Dam Busters bombing the Eder dam instead of the Mohne. Has King Tiger Tanks at Kursk in 1943, they weren't operational till 1944, and this is only after less than half-way through the book! These are only some of the most obvious errors within the narrative.When he comes to the actual flying his use of first-hand accounts from pilots on both sides are well placed and enjoyable to read, like this account from an American pilot who talks about the punishment his P-47 Thunderbolt withstood after a fight with some German Fw-190's:"There are twenty-one gaping holes and jagged tears in the metal from exploding 20mm cannon shells, and my count of bullet holes reaches past a hundred. The propeller has five holes in it. Three cannon shells burst against the armor plate, a scant inch away from my head. Two others blasted away the lower half of my rudder. One shell exploded in the cockpit and ripped away the flap handle. Behind the cockpit, the metal is twisted and curled. That jammed the canopy, trapping me inside. The airplane had done her best. Needless to say, she would never fly again."In the end I enjoyed the accounts of the Me 262 but I was so frustrated with the errors in the whole story that it prejudiced my view in regards to his account of the jet. A simple review of the book by an editor before publication should have picked up these errors and since they weren't identified and corrected it has spoilt what had the potential to be a very good book.

The development of the world's first operational jet fighter should be a fascinating topic.But the unbelievable errors and inaccuracies in this book lead me to doubt whether this author did much research at all. Just some of the many examples:- He makes a multitude of errors in the ranks of individuals in the book. "Vice Marshal" Harris was actually an Air Vice Marshall - and in any case had been promoted to Air Marshall in 1941 after which most of the action in this book takes place. The author refers to "General" Goring in one paragraph, and interchanges "Reichs marshal" and "Reichsmarshal" in others. If he knew his stuff, he'd know that the rank was "Reichsmarschall". With two 'l's. Apart from anything else, this is poor editing. Shame on the publishers.- Towards the beginning of the book he manages to imply that the RAF started the bombing offensive against Germany using the Halifax and Lancaster heavy bombers. These aircraft only came into production in 1942. Perhaps he is aware of this, and it's just the bad writing that leads one to think otherwise.- He says "...no one knew more about [torpedoes] than the specialists in Germany's Kriegsmarine. In fact other nations lagged behind in the development of torpedoes... ...following their Axis partners' advice, the Japanese built dependable ones as well. These were the Type 95 that accounted for most of the damage to U.S. ships at Pearl Harbour." This is pure fantasy. The type 95 torpedo was a smaller version of the famous type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo, and was used by submarines. The Japanese air force used a third variant, the type 91 at Pearl Harbour. All three torpedoes were developed between 1928 and 1933 by the Japanese without help from the Germans. They are universally recognised as the highest performance and most effective torpedoes of WWII. The Germans by contrast suffered major problems with their own torpedoes early in WWII - the G7a for example was defective both in its magnetic pistol and with its depth keeping.Apart from the factual inaccuracies and the mis-spellings, the style of writing is inconsistent, sometimes deteriorating to a familiar tone more in keeping with a high school essay than a history book.I was exceptionally disappointed with this book.

This turns out to be much more than a straight recitation of Messerschmitt's life story and his development of the Me262, and is the better for that.This book is an eye opener for those like me with only a hazy understanding of the rise of the Nazi party, its triumphalist cresting during the early years of the Second World War and its descent into despair and madness at the time of defeat. The Messerschmitt story is interesting in itself, but the addition of the extensive amount of background history of Nazism makes it a compelling read. The mass of startlingly detailed information on individual air battles is a further unexpected and illuminating bonus.The interpretation of the underlying political motives of the combatants and their leaders at the start of the war, especially that regarding Japan and the USA, is unfamiliar to most tutored in the British Commonwealth view of things. It is somewhat unpalatable, but intriguing never-the-less.

The book is excellent. It not only describes the development of the Me-262, but also is a complete biography of Willy Messerschmidt and a very detailed history of WWII events. A lot of volume for the money. The author is an excellent writer and it is therefore easy to digest the book.

Una aproximación a la vida de Willy Messerchmitt, un ingeniero que vivió una época bonita para la técnica pero convulsa y horrorosa para la gente