"A profusely illustrated record of the man and his aircraft up to the time of Germany's collapse in 1945. With a keen insight into the rise and demise of Hitler's Luftwaffe, the author analyses the achievements of Professor Willy Messerschmitt, creator of a remarkably wide range of commercial and military aircraft, who began his career as a pioneer gliding enthusiast and rose rapidly to fame and fortune in the German aircraft industry. He describes in detail nearly all the aircraft types and projects with which Messerschmitt was involved until 1945, and traces the development of Messerschmitt's distinctive style of aircraft design. Throughout, his analysis is backed up by a unique collection of photographs and drawings, many of which have never been published before. He also describes the influence exerted upon Messerschmitt's career by many of the key figures in Nazi Germany: Erhard Milch, Herman Goring, Ernst Udet, Rudolf Hess, and of course Adolf Hitler himself, who showered Messerschmitt with medals and awards and whose gross overestimation of the Luftwaffe had disastrous consequences for Germany's conduct of war." --Back cover.