Richthofen : A True History of the Red Baron

New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1969. A square, tight copy. NOT a book club edition. Dust Jacket has a few tiny chips, with some closed tears tape-reinforced on the blank side. NOT price clipped (6.50). No remainder mark. Pages are clean. No underlining. No highlighting. No margin notes. Illustrated with 26 photos. Endpaper maps. Bibliography. Index. Bound in the original gray cloth, lettered in gold on the spine. From the Dust Jacket: "Manfred von Richthofen, the 'Red Baron,' has proven to be the most durable of modem war heroes. Besides being World War I's highest-scoring ace, he was a Wagnerian hero for the Germans in two world wars, has had one of his country's new jet squadrons named for him, and is the un-seen anti-hero of the universally popular Peanuts comic strip. Mr. Burrows believes that the analysis of the Red Baron's mystique cannot be left to aviation buffs alone. The young Prussian's thirst for fame, compulsion for hunting, apparent indifference to women, relationship with his mother, and obedience to Prussian tradition were all part of the forces that made him the ace of aces. Beyond these strong forces, however, lay the shadowy but pervasive propaganda machine, an official apparatus which was obliged to inflate Germany's heroes in an attempt to keep a war-weary population's mind off empty stomachs and the clear Communist threat to the Kaiser's weakening regime. The war could not be won, and Richthofen knew it. Berlin and its propagandists gave Richthofen the fame he sought. Command and the coveted Blue Max medal were his. But in the end he choked on his fame and the adulation that followed in its train. Sadly, he was to be as useful to the Fatherland dead as he had been alive.". First Edition (so stated). Hard Cover. Very Good condition./Good Dust Jacket.. 8vo. xvi, 268pp.