Black Cross Red Star – Air War Over the Eastern Front : Volume 4, Stalingrad to Kuban 1942-1943

The book has been published!

Regarded as the standard work on the air war over the Eastern Front during World War II, Christer Bergström’s unique Black Cross/Red Star series covers the history of the air war on the Eastern Front in close detail, with the perspectives of both sides. Based on a close study of German and Russian archive material, as well as interviews with a large number of the airmen who participated in this aerial conflict, it has established itself as the main source on the air war on the Eastern Front.

Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 4 covers the air war along the entire Eastern Front during the period winter 1942/1943 through the spring of 1943, in great detail, with a balance between German and Soviet archive sources etc, and with many first-hand accounts. It is of the same size as the other volumes, but with a word count twice as large, and it also contains aircraft color profiles.

Following the publication of Volume 4, new and heavily updated editions of volumes 1, 2 and 3 will follow, and next the subsequent volumes (vols. 5 etc.) will follow.

Large format. 

There are 380 photos in the book. Very many of those photos have never been published before because they are from pilot veterans’ private photo albums.
There are also many very clear maps: Probably every single place mentioned in the book is on the maps.

And aircraft color profiles by Jim Laurier.

Click here to go to the website of the Black Cross Red Star series

Note:

The hardcover edition contains color profiles. ISBN 978-91-88441-21-8. 

Click here to go to the website of the Black Cross Red Star series

Following the publication of Volume 4, Volume 5 (Kuban and Kursk) was published in 2020, and next new and heavily updated editions of volumes 1, 2 and 3 will follow, and then subsequent volumes (vols. 6 etc.) will follow.

Go to the new edition of Volume 1

Go to the new edition of Volume 2

Go to Volume 5

A new and heavily updated edition of Volume 3 will be published later in 2022.

For more books by the author in English, click here.

To order the book:

For a personally signed copy of the hardcover edition with aircraft color profiles etc:

For a personally signed copy of the hardcover edition with aircraft color profiles etc:
Transfer 900 SEK (Swedish krona) [equivalent 90.50 EUR / USD$ 105.00 / £ 76.00 GBP / 140.00 AUD] to Christer’s Paypal account vaktelforlag@gmail.com
and send your address to Christer at vaktelforlag@gmail.com

For book retailers: E-mail vaktelforlag@gmail.com

Note:

The hardcover edition contains color profiles. ISBN 978-91-88441-21-8.

(There is a paperback edition which is entirely b&w, except for the cover. ISBN 978-91-88441-50-8. That can be bought in bookstores only in the United States. The reason is that I had no U.S. distributor in 2019, so that one is a print on demand edition. But personally signed copies of the hardcover edition with aircraft color profiles etc. can be ordered from me from anywhere in the world.)

For book retailers: E-mail vaktelforlag@gmail.com

Reviews

”Black Cross, Red Star … an indispensable reference – highly recommended.”

– J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. and Tiger Hobbies.

”Without a doubt one of the finest aviation history books I’ve ever read.”
– Richard Goldblatt at SimHqCom on Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 1.

”A balanced account of the Eastern Front and the incredible battles staged there … An impressive series.”

– FlyPast on Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 1.
”Black Cross, Red Star: The Air War over the Eastern Front, volume one was a strong winner in our Top Ten awards for the best new WWII books… An unprecedented amount of carefully documented detail about both the Luftwaffe and the VVS.”

– Bill Stone at Stone & Stone on Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 1.
”Masterfully combines the combat experiences of both Soviet and German airmen into a coherent narrative.”
– Richard R. Muller, Maxwell AFB, in Aerospace Power Journal, on Black Cross/Red Star, Vol. 2.

”Volume two of Black Cross, Red Star finished in the top ten this year after volume one did the same last year.”
– Bill Stone at Stone & Stone on Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 1.
”Excellent quality … The co-operation of pilots from both sides of the conflict lends a fascinating first-party authenticity to the text. Highly Recommended.”
– Brett Green at Hyperscale, on Black Cross/Red Star, Vol. 3.
”One of the best books of the year!”
– Bill Stone at Stone & Stone on Black Cross/Red Star, volume 3.
”When considering purchasing background books for IL-2 Sturmovik, the Black Cross/Red Star volumes should be at the top of the list.”
– Richard ”Swoose” Goldblatt at the IL-2 Sturmovik Section of the SimHQ.com Reference Library.
”Black Cross Red Star is absolutely ’must’ reading for anyone interested in the Eastern front during WWII. The book constitutes a truly unique and unheralded contribution to our understanding of the German-Russian campaign. Highly Recommended!”
– Dave Williams at Aviation Booklist.

”Black Cross/Red Star belongs on the bookshelf of any serious student of aerial combat.”
– Canadian Military History Book Review Supplement.

24 September 2019: The book has been published!