This publication is in a "bookazine" format, 132 pages softcover on A4 format, which allows for reproductions of original design drawings on a larger scale than is usual. Those are facsimiles of the original drawing as it survived, not reworking of it, which means that the quality of these drawings at times has suffered. But their reproduction quality, and that if the pictures, is good. The text that goes with them is insightful and informative, as the author is very knowledgeable.

The books contains chapters detailing efforts to build fighters around (mainly) the 24-cylinder Jumo 222 engine; the final efforts to extrapolate a heavy fighter from the small Fw 187; the Ta 154 project; the Blohm & Voss BV 40; the final competition for a high-altitude fighter design with an internal combustion engine; and some smaller sections on other topics. In many places Dan Sharp corrects the record using original transcripts from meetings on these projects. (The only weakness is the sometimes awkward translation from German to English, in which some information may have been lost.)

A good effort at de-mythologising some of the late-war German projects, that illustrates that some designs that acquired a dubious fame were desperate stop-gaps, dead ends, or a (deliberate?) waste of time. ( )