Female flyers in Nazi Germany

Clare Mulley's book tells the extraordinary true story of Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg, the only two women to serve as test pilots for Nazi Germany, both awarded the Iron Cross for their service. Despite their shared profession and patriotism, the women were starkly different: Reitsch, a vivacious and fanatical Nazi, tried to save Hitler's life in the final days of the war, while von Stauffenberg, from an aristocratic Prussian family and secretly part-Jewish, covertly supported the plot to assassinate Hitler. Their interwoven lives provide a vivid insight into Nazi Germany's attitudes toward women, class, and race, set against the backdrop of the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, and Hitler's bunker. The book is praised for its narrative flair and deep research, offering a gripping account of two women who defied convention and found themselves on opposite sides of history.