Often described as "brutal" yet "innovative" in design, the massive "push-pull" Dornier Do 335 all-weather heavy fighter was symbolic of late-war German aircraft design.

Richard Smith and Eddie Creek, with the assistance of Gerhard Roletschek, have been collecting information and photographic materials on this radical aircraft for many years and have much little-known and previously unpublished materials. They are in an ideal position to be able to dispel myths and produce the facts, since this aircraft has been the subject of frequent erroneous assessments.

Were it not for the advent of the turbojet engine, the form of the Do 335 would have represented the way ahead for conventional, piston-engine aircraft design. Capable of producing a maximum speed in excess of 750 km/h at 6,400 meters, it was the fastest piston-engine aircraft produced by Germany during the Second World War and suffered none of the asymmetrical problems often associated with power failure in twin-engine aircraft.

Some forty examples of the aircraft were actually built and the authors tell the story of the Do 335's planned development in various forms as a heavily-armed day fighter, night fighter, reconnaissance machine, "destroyer"/heavy fighter and two-seat trainer. There is a chapter devoted to special projects such as the twin-fuselage Junkers Ju 635 and the Do P 232 which entailed refitting the "Pfeil's" rear motor with a turbojet.

Backed up by superb color profile artwork and detailed line drawings and including the contents of a rare wartime Dornier handbook on the aircraft, this book represents the finest research and material to date on this enigmatic aircraft, which like many of these other unorthodox designs was too little too late.