This work has been sitting on the shelf pretty much since it was published; so long that, in fact, an expanded and revised version has been published by Crecy! That said, there's a somewhat sour tone to this book that transcends some of the usual breathless enthusiasm "Luft '46" machines usually generate. Maybe it's because there's a German co-writer, but since the designated main production facility for this plane was being built with slave labor that probably colored the editorial stance. As for the machine itself, its epithet is "so close, but so far," in terms of getting into actual combat service. Besides the teething issues (overheating, weak landing gear and slack construction standards), one also has to wonder whether compressionability would have wound up being an issue; I don't have the impression that anyone ever pushed the Do 335 to its performance limits. Anyway, I enjoyed this work, though anyone out there in the market for a book on this plane will probably want the 2017 second edition. ( )