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Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace
With over 1,404 wartime missions, Erich Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills, and his career contains all the dramas you would expect. There were the frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War that ended with conflict and angst.



Hartmann was adopted by a network of writers and commentators personally invested in his welfare and reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published elaborate, celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. Hartmann's legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. A simplified, one-dimensional account of his life has gone unchallenged for almost a generation.



Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we're used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we've inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.
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Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace
With over 1,404 wartime missions, Erich Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills, and his career contains all the dramas you would expect. There were the frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War that ended with conflict and angst.



Hartmann was adopted by a network of writers and commentators personally invested in his welfare and reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published elaborate, celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. Hartmann's legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. A simplified, one-dimensional account of his life has gone unchallenged for almost a generation.



Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we're used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we've inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.
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Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace

Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace

by Erik Schmidt

Narrated by Keith Sellon-Wright

Unabridged — 9 hours, 10 minutes

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Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace
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Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace

Black Tulip: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace

by Erik Schmidt

Narrated by Keith Sellon-Wright

Unabridged — 9 hours, 10 minutes

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Overview

With over 1,404 wartime missions, Erich Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills, and his career contains all the dramas you would expect. There were the frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War that ended with conflict and angst.



Hartmann was adopted by a network of writers and commentators personally invested in his welfare and reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published elaborate, celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. Hartmann's legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. A simplified, one-dimensional account of his life has gone unchallenged for almost a generation.



Black Tulip locates the ambiguous truth about Hartmann and so much of the German Wehrmacht in general: that many of these men were neither full-blown Nazis nor impeccable knights. They were complex, contradictory, and elusive. This book portrays a complex human rather than the heroic caricature we're used to, and it argues that the tidy, polished hero stories we've inherited about men like Hartmann say as much about those who've crafted them as they do about the heroes themselves.

Editorial Reviews

Jay Stout

I am jealous. This is a wonderfully different—and wonderfully written—work. Schmidt is no fawning fanboy of the ‘Greatest Ace of All Time.’ Instead, he is a sympathetic and insightful researcher who has produced an engrossing and thoughtfully wandering analysis of the multi-dimensional Hartmann that is unlike, and better than, anything ever done. Get this one.

The Aviation Historian

‘’If you are attracted to the idea of a book that attempts to explore, lucidly, the Nazi period German serviceman’s mindset and which uses Hartmann as its fulcrum, then this might appeal.’’

War History Online

"This is a genuinely fascinating and often compelling book. I like Erik Schmidt’s honesty and his attention to detail. "

Midwest Book Review

"...especially appropriate for persona, professional, community, and academic library collections."

WWII History Magazine

"This book offers a clear look at a complex figure and the wider world of the Third Reich which surrounded him and used him for their propaganda. It is an interesting and well-done biography"

Detail Scale View

‘’Highly recommended for aviation fans…’’

RAF News

"A fascinating insight into the making of a flying legend ... exposes through rigorous analysis how myths are made, and sometimes used, to excuse one of the most evil mass slaughters in history."

Aviation Enthusiast Book Club

‘’What sets this book apart is the in depth analysis of who Hartmann was and whether his reputation is apt and why he was and still is held in such high regard. It’s a fascinating book and I highly recommend it.’’

Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

Enjoyed it.

Aeroplane Monthly

‘’Well-written, thought provoking.’’

Flight Journal

"Portrays a complex human ... Black Tulip does much to fill in the backstory of the greatest fighter ace."

Product Details

BN ID: 2940176333190
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 02/23/2021
Edition description: Unabridged
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