The result of 15 years research, this book is the first comprehensive account of the development of auto-gyros and helicopters in Germany during the period 1930-1945. It sheds much light on an area of considerable aeronautical achievement, which has until now been unjustly neglected.

German progress in this field has been overshadowed by developments in other areas. Yet by the end of World War II, despite minimal funding, lukewarm official support and bitter inter-service rivalries, the Germans were, undoubtedly, technologically way ahead of their American counterparts in the development of rotating wing aircraft. This book, which will become the definitive work on the subject, is fully illustrated throughout with many photos which are believed to have been unpublished until now.