RAF and East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War: Thinking the Unthinkable

RAF and East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War is a book that explores the lives of RAF and East German fighter and fighter-bomber pilots during the Cold War in North Germany through personal testimony, official archives, and other historical sources. It provides a snapshot of history as seen through the eyes of these pilots, without political criticism, and examines the threat and planning for conflict during the Cold War.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 28 September 2020
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

RAF and East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War is the culmination of ten years of extensive research, conducted by a small Anglo-German team of military specialists. Their mission was to delve into the lives of RAF and East German fighter and fighter-bomber pilots, both in the air and on the ground, during the Cold War in North Germany. The book is primarily based on personal testimonies from these pilots, complemented by facts sourced from official archives and insights from other historical sources. Where possible, political considerations have been avoided, and no direct criticism has been intended. Instead, readers are encouraged to form their own conclusions regarding the thinking, strategies, equipment, and tactics discussed. Far from being an intellectual debate on the Cold War, the text and photographs merely capture a glimpse of history as seen through the eyes of a select few who took up arms in defense of their respective homelands and faced each other daily across the Iron Curtain.

In a thought-provoking conclusion, Nigel Walpole reassesses the perceived threat that both sides believed was genuine during those tense decades of the Cold War and examines the potential course and nature of a conflict that neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact desired but both actively planned for.

Weight: 780g
Dimension: 157 x 233 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526758385