Written by someone who was closely involved with its design and testing.

Aeroplane Monthly

The ME 262, the first military jet to enter service, was amongst the most significant of Adolf Hitler's so-called "miracle weapons" which were to save the Reich.

The author of this book is well placed to tell the story of this famous aircraft as he not only flew it but helped to design it. Consequently we are treated to a most comprehensive account of the ME 262, from the initial development stages through to its belated entry into service during the final months of 1944. Ziegler correctly focuses on the reasons behind this late arrival as it could have reached the front line much earlier, and may well have had a significant impact on the efforts of the Allies to win air supremacy over the continent.

Yet Hitler's peculiar conviction that it should only be developed as a bomber, rather than the fighter which it quite clearly was, resulted in it only coming into service once that battle was effectively over. Despite numerous successes, the Luftwaffe's dwindling resources and pilots were faced with the insurmountable, and it became apparent that even a miracle weapon could only do so much.

Pegasus Archive

Mano Ziegler had a fascinating life. He was a member of Germany's Olympic high-diving team in 1936, he was a test pilot for the 1st German jet fighter planes, flew the ME 262 and went on to a successful career in journalism.

Hitler's Jet Plane is an absorbing book because of the main question it asks, would the Luftwaffe have been victorious had the ME 262 become fully operational earlier? The obvious answer is; we will never find out, but it does seem likely that the outcome of the war would have been somewhat different.
 
All in all, it has to be said what a good book Herr Ziegler wrote. His expertise with the Messerschmitt ME 163 gave him the expertise to write it but his

WW2 Connection