Richthofen: A True History of the Red Baron

Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron," has proven to be the most durable of modern war heroes. Besides being World War I's highest-scoring ace, he was a Wagnerian hero for the German in two world wars, has had one of his country's new jet squadron's named for him, and is the unseen anti-hero of the universally popular Peanuts comic strip. Mr. Burrows believes that the analysis of he Red Baron's mystique cannot be left to aviation buffs alone. The young Prussian's thirst for fame, compulsion for hunting, apparent indifference to women, relationship with his mother, and obedience to Prussian tradition were all part of forces that made him the ace of aces. Beyond these strong forces, however, lay the shadowy put pervasive propaganda machine, an official apparatus which was obliged to inflate Germany's heroes in an attempt to keep a war-weary population's mind off empty stomachs and the clear Communist threat to the Kaiser's weakening regime. The war could not be won, and Richthofen knew it. Berlin and its propagandists gave Richthofen the fame he sought. Command and the coveted Blue Max medal were his. But in the end he choked on his fame and the adulation that followed in its train. Sadly, he was to be as useful to the Fatherland dead as he had been alive.