Malcolm V. Lowe is a writer and historian specialised on Luftwaffe, RAF and USAAF air operations between 1939-45 over northwest Europe. He has written articles for magazines including Aeroplane Monthly, Aviation News and FlyPast. Malcolm's books have been critically acclaimed for their research and published in German, French, Czech, Chinese and Arabic.

The illustrators for this volume are Gareth Hector (cover and battlescene), Jim Laurier (armament views) and Tim Brown (technical and ribbon diagrams).

There is ongoing international interest with hobbyists in early-war Luftwaffe aircraft and combat.

Chapter 1
In Battle
Two case studies of aerial combat in the opening phases of World War II, these being the initial actions over Poland and the start of the Battle of France

Chapter 2
Setting the Scene
Design, development, production, early actions, the Polish campaign explained leading to detailed analysis of the Bf 109E's participation in the Battle of France against French and British aerial opposition

Chapter 3
Path to Combat
Charting the careers of two Luftwaffe pilots who flew the Bf 109E in combat during the opening phases of World War 2, including Johannes 'Hannes' Trautloft who the author has studied in depth

Chapter 4
Weapon of war
A brief technical appraisal of the Bf 109E-1 and E-3, detailing their development and the weaponry they employed

Chapter 5
Art of War
Tactics for Bf 109E units at the start of World War II were in their infancy, and drew on combat experience during the Spanish Civil War and the actions of the Legion Condor. This chapter will look for example at the employment of the revolutionary 'finger four' combat formation, and how it revolutionised fighter combat to the point where all other air arms eventually adopted it as a standard offensive formation. The 'Split S' manoeuvre and the evolution of the Rotte and Schwarm tactical formations will also be explained.

Chapter 6
Combat
In this chapter, Bf 109E pilots explain what it was like fly the 'Emil' in combat against the widely differing opposition that was encountered in the opening months of World War 2, from such obsolete, but highly agile, types as the Polish PZL P.11 to the French Morane-Saulnier MS.406 and British Hawker Hurricane fighters that had comparable performance to the 'Emil'.

Appendices
Listing of early Bf 109E units, aces and performance data

Index