Author Wilhelm Johnen republished the book “Duel Under the Stars: The Memoir of a Luftwaffe Night Pilot in World War II” in 2018. The book was first published in 1956.

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence. This is the war memoir of German night fighter pilot Wilhelm Johnen.

The book tells of Johnen’s activities during WWII. It also tells a little history of the German night fighters. Most of Johnen’s combat flying time was in the ME 110.

I enjoyed the 6.5+ hours I spent reading this 320-page WWII history. This is only the second book I have read written from the German perspective. I think it is interesting to see the war through their eyes. I give this novel a 4.2 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

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Since the Americans flew day missions in World War II, the German nightfighters aren’t well known. The British bore the brunt of their attacks. Even in old war movies, I recall the British bombers being caught in searchlights and shot down by flak, not fighters. Therefore, this memoir was enlightening.
Of interesting note: when the author landed his damaged plane in Switzerland, his family was arrested and jailed by the Gestapo
He frequently mentions the German anger over the Allies bombing their cities. They conveniently forget their tactics when they started the war―bombing Warsaw, Rotterdam, and other cities, slaughtering men, women, and children.
This book is well worth the time to read, though it does get a bit tedious as he exalts over his British kills.

Reading this book broght back memories of my uncles and father talking about the Second World War which they all served in. I have always heard the Allied side of the war so looked forward to reading what the Axis pilots were all about. I was amazed and saddened by this book. It is so well written it was hard to put down and I felt compassion for the German crews which surprised me. They were men fighting to protect their families and country from attack. The author never sounds arrogant or hateful, he sounds like an honorable soldier. This makes it even more astounding to read. Especially since my generation was anything but sympathetic to the Germans. I never thought of the enemy as humans just like us. But they are.
The details in this book are so descriptive you feel like you are getting ready to take off and meet the bombers on their way to Berlin. All in all an excellent and important story that needs to be told.