The Star of Africa

The Complete Story of Hans-Joachim Marseille as Told by Those Who Knew Him and Those He Fought

“In Star of Africa, Heaton has produced the definitive biography of Hans-Joachim Marseille, the unconventional Luftwaffe super-ace who dominated the North African air war….The text is superbly augmented with rare photos and numerous appendices that will keep readers and researchers busy for decades to come.”

-Barrett Tillman, Forgotten Fifteenth: The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler’s War Machine; Former Secretary, American Fighter Aces Assoc.

“Great story of a German war hero who opposed his brutal government and displayed chivalry and compassion towards his enemies, maintaining his honor, and becoming a legend.”

-Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, Co-author of Noble Warrior: The Story of Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, USMC (Ret.), Medal of Honor

“What Colin Heaton has written is the Magnum Opus of the Marseille phenomenon….a 125-pound killing dynamo that broke and then rewrote the rules of fighter-to-fighter combat, allowing him to dominate the North African skies for almost 18 months. There is simply no better book on this topic.”

-Lt. Col. Robert Tate, USAFR (ret.), AWACS Pilot and WWII Historian

“Heaton has created a very well-written, meticulously researched triumph of a biography with interviews from men who knew the amazing Marseille-a German, anti-Nazi Swing Kid and highly decorated fighter pilot-who threw away the rulebook but proved that he indeed ruled the skies in WWII.”

-H. P. Shreve, Author of The Secret Diaries of a POW: COL Arthur L. Shreve, Jr., (adapted to film Once a Colonel)

Additional information

Description

The Star of Africa plunges you into the blistering cockpit of Hans-Joachim Marseille, the Luftwaffe’s most dazzling maverick. Against the backdrop of North Africa’s sun-scorched skies, Marseille carved his legend: 158 confirmed victories; a string of near-impossible dogfights won by instinct and raw courage; and the coveted Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds.

But Marseille’s genius did not come at the cost of his conscience. Refusing to swallow the Nazi doctrine around him, he spun forbidden jazz through his radio, befriended a South African POW, and lived by an honor code that led him to guide crippled Allied fighters safely to the desert floor, sometimes risking anti-aircraft fire to slip them notices of their downed comrades. Through interviews with fellow pilots and German officers who watched him grow from undisciplined renegade to the “Star of Africa,” Colin D. Heaton paints a vivid portrait of a man whose soaring heroism and tragic end—caused not by enemy fire but by mechanical fate—reshaped the morale of an entire fighter wing and left an indelible mark on aviation history.

image sources