The Luftwaffe is a Time-Life aviation book included in the Epic of Flight series. In March 1935, only two years after he came to power, Adolf Hitler openly defied the Treaty of Versailles and announced a massive program of rearmament. The plan called for a Reichsluftwaffe, a
national air force whose squadrons would put a steel roof over Germany and darken out the sun. The development was staggering. By 1939 when Hitler set into motion his schemes for European conquest, the Luftwaffe had more than 4,000 front-line aircraft, making it the most formidable air force in the world.