Professor Porsche's Wars: The Secret Life of Ferdinand Porsche, the Legendary Engineer Who Armed Two Belligerents Through Four Decades

Book was in perfect shape. Content of the book= meh…

As a auto racing fan, I thought I knew all about Ferdinand Porsche. He had his own design bureau, designed the VW for the Nazis, and founded the Porsche automobile company. But there is oh so much more. Not only his military work for the Nazis, but his work with other companies from before WWI and through to WWII. His all-electric road trains for the Austrian Army were amazing for the time. He even designed aero engines. A fantastic book about an amazing engineer.

Book had tech specs and history of the equipment (including pictures and diagrams of the cars, tanks, engines, etc). that Porsche was involved with from well before WWI to after WWII. Not just technical, the book included enough of the personal details and interactions of Porsche with the command structures of the other side of two world wars (including his special relationship with Hitler ) to keep the book very entertaining.

As a Porsche brand advocate and owner of three Porsche cars, I wanted to learn more about the heritage of the company and the family. This book is worth the $$$. Lots of tech info, political insights, photography and war time drama. I learned a lot. For example, I never knew he was put in a French prison with no heat.

Have to have this one to understand the Porsche story -- both for good and for bad. I thought the author tread lightly on the depth of Ferdinand Porsche's involvement in the Nazi war machine.

Great book if you want to know what the Good Dr. was up to during WWII. Not the usual Porsche book, that is why it is good.

Both the author and his hero knew what they were doing and liked it. I like the book for everybody is fascinated by professionals.

Great book, mayber more about the war than I thought

Uma profunda análise da vida e obra do engenheiro que contribuiu com sua genialidade para os mais diversos projetos de motores, veículos e armamentos ao longo de meio século, trabalhando para o Império austro-húngaro e a Alemanha do Terceiro Reich. Sua parceria com empresas como Mercedes Bens e imensa capacidade de trabalho e desenvolvimento de projetos fizeram com que se tornasse um profissional cobiçado até pelo regime soviético, que chegou a oferecer o cargo de administrador supremo das indústrias automotivas da URSS. Obra fascinante, ricamente ilustrada e com inúmeras informações. Recomendo fortemente.

As a purchaser of Ludvigsen's Excellence was Expected, Genesis of a Genius and Origin of Species, this volume completes the long history of Porsche. As usual, it is very well written, interesting and readable.There are several pictures copied from the above volumes but in a smaller format, which is ok. But unlike the above that were published by Bentley, this has a different publisher. This volume is slim, some of pictures could have been better reproduced (too dark, also no color pictures) and the overall layout / format is quite 'plain'. It doesn't have the quality or 'richness' that the Bentley books have , could say it looks like the layout was done on a budget. The techical drawings are good but need to be larger to fully appreciate them. For this reason, based on the above volumes (quality / initial price), I feel that it is not worth the price I paid ($45 incl shipping). Even my History of V12 Engine (again by Ludvigsen, published by Haynes) is more attractive. 3.5 star rating, for text quality only.

Very well researched. Would have liked to know more about his personal life.

Compro muitos livros pela AMAZON, mas dessa vez estou tentando entender o que aconteceu. Não veio nota fiscal, alegaram que eu não estava em casa na primeira entrega, o que é mentira pois trabalho em casa e não saio; o rapaz que fez a entrega ontem totalmente despreparado. O livro (que era um presente que eu ia dar) estava danificado, o envelope amassadíssimo. Péssimo, péssimo, péssimo. Complicado demais. Onde tem um canal para falar com o consumidor? Estou MUITO decepcionada. Hoje vi que o livro que comprei ontem vai ser entregue pela mesma transportadora. No site da Amazon fala que chega hoje, mas no rastreio do pacote, promete a entrega para amanhã. Total Express é uma transportadora ruim. Simples assim.Sobre o livro: excelente!!! Para quem gosta de engenharia, um prato cheio. Já tinha comprado um para nossa casa e comprei esse de presente para um engenheiro que está se formando. Vale a pena. Torço para que as pessoas tenham mais sorte que eu com a empresa responsável pela entrega.

Professor Porsche and his life just seems so much more interesting than other designers and car makers.