When modern readers think of Hermann Goring, what probably comes to mind is the overweight drug addict and convicted war criminal who cheated the hangman's noose at Nuremberg by committing suicide just hours before he was due to be hanged. Next up might be the image of his powerful German air force in the Second World War---the Luftwaffe---bombing defenseless European cities and towns in the early part of the war, until it was defeated by the British Royal Air Force in the epic Battle of Britain in 1940. Next might come Goring the debauched art collector who pirated captured collections all over Nazi Europe during the Occupation years. All of these images are correct, but here we see another Hermann Goring: the slim, dashing fighter pilot and combat ace of an earlier struggle, the Great War, or World War I of 1914-18, which he began as an infantry officer fighting the French Army in the 1914 Battle of the Frontiers. During a hospitalization, his friend Bruno Lorzer convinced him to become an aerial observer-photographer, photographing the mighty French fortress of Verdun. He did, and began these never-before-seen personal photo albums of men and aircraft at war: up close.

"These superb photographs from Goering’s own personal albums visually chronicle the evolution and operations of German military aviation in the Great War. More importantly and interestingly, they provide a glimpse into the little-known life and World War I service of this air ace and Blue Max awardee, later destined to become Deputy Fuehrer of Germany during the second worldwide conflict."

"...does a good job showing a relatively unknown side of Goering without trying to glorify the man. The photographs are accompanied by text that explains Goering's journey through the war. The book is thought provoking; it makes the reader consider that men like Goering did not spring from the womb a full fledged degenerate Nazi. Rather one must consider his origin and journey as a relatively normal person before later events influenced his decisions."