Overview

The Star of Africa plunges you into the blistering cockpit of Hans-Joachim Marseille, the Luftwaffe's most dazzling maverick. Against the backdrop of North Africa's sun-scorched skies, Marseille carved his legend: 158 confirmed victories; a string of near-impossible dogfights won by instinct and raw courage; and the coveted Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. But Marseille's genius did not come at the cost of his conscience. Refusing to swallow the Nazi doctrine around him, he spun forbidden jazz through his radio, befriended a South African POW, and lived by an honor code that led him to guide crippled Allied fighters safely to the desert floor, sometimes risking anti-aircraft fire to slip them notices of their downed comrades. Through interviews with fellow pilots and German officers who watched him grow from undisciplined renegade to the ""Star of Africa,"" Colin D. Heaton paints a vivid portrait of a man whose soaring heroism and tragic end-caused not by enemy fire but by mechanical fate-reshaped the morale of an entire fighter wing and left an indelible mark on aviation history.

Full Product Details

9781944353872

Table of Contents

Reviews

""In Star of Africa, Heaton has produced the definitive biography of Hans-Joachim Marseille, the unconventional Luftwaffe super-ace who dominated the North African air war....The text is superbly augmented with rare photos and numerous appendices that will keep readers and researchers busy for decades to come."" -Barrett Tillman, Forgotten Fifteenth: The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler's War Machine; Former Secretary, American Fighter Aces Assoc. ""Great story of a German war hero who opposed his brutal government and displayed chivalry and compassion towards his enemies, maintaining his honor, and becoming a legend."" -Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, Co-author of Noble Warrior: The Story of Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, USMC (Ret.), Medal of Honor ""What Colin Heaton has written is the Magnum Opus of the Marseille phenomenon....a 125-pound killing dynamo that broke and then rewrote the rules of fighter-to-fighter combat, allowing him to dominate the North African skies for almost 18 months. There is simply no better book on this topic."" -Lt. Col. Robert Tate, USAFR (ret.), AWACS Pilot and WWII Historian ""Heaton has created a very well-written, meticulously researched triumph of a biography with interviews from men who knew the amazing Marseille-a German, anti-Nazi Swing Kid and highly decorated fighter pilot-who threw away the rulebook but proved that he indeed ruled the skies in WWII."" -H. P. Shreve, Author of The Secret Diaries of a POW: COL Arthur L. Shreve, Jr., (adapted to film Once a Colonel) ""Having read other biographies of Marseille...I was surprised to find that this gracefully written new work adds fascinating details and accounts from extensive interviews with Luftwaffe Experten that make it worth reading no matter how deeply immersed in Marseille lore you might already be."" -Aviation History magazine ""His loss was a bitter blow to his compatriots in JG-27 but a blessing to those of us on the other side."" -Ron Cundy, Royal Air Force, North Africa ""Watching Marseille in the air was like watching a deadly aerial ballet. He looked like he was twelve years old, and often acted like it."" -Major Werner Schroer, Knight's Cross, Oak Leaves and Swords, JG-27 ""Marseille was perhaps the best that the Luftwaffe had. His record was only surpassed by his immature unprofessionalism."" -Col. Hajo Herrmann, Knight's Cross, Oak Leaves and Swords ""Men like Marseille captured the public imagination, and rightly so. They played a dangerous game, and Marseille was perhaps the best to ever fly a fighter."" -Lt. Gen. Gunther Rall, Knight's Cross, Oak Leaves and Swords with 275 victories ""Marseille may not have been the perfect officer, but he was the perfect fighter pilot."" -Gen. Adolf Galland, Famed German Ace ""The Star of Africa shares Marseille's journey from marginal young pilot to 'virtuoso of the fighter pilots' (the title given to him by Adolf Galland)...with close attention to detail throughout. An excellent book."" -Trevor J. Constable, Coauthor of The Blond Knight of Germany: A Biography of Erich Hartmann and Fighter General: The Life of Adolf Galland ""Heaton expertly portrays Marseille as one of history's great fighter pilots, as well as a man who lived life to the full and who fought with honor."" -Dennis Showalter, Pritzker Prize for lifetime achievement in military history writing ""...there is no better book to acquaint a reader with this extraordinary fighter pilot and man."" -Chuck Oldham, Defense Media Network

Author Information

COLIN D. HEATON earned BA and MA degrees in history as well as an MPhil degree in Europeans Studies, and he has taught history, academic writing, military history, and sociology in various universities. He has been interviewing military veterans, pilots in particular, for three decades. He has published 11 books in five languages and over 30 articles, many derived from his interviews. His articles have appeared in periodicals such as Military History, Aviation History, World War II, and Vietnam Magazine.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available