An account of the lives of pilots Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg during wartime Germany.

`Vividly drawn . . . a thrilling story’ Anne Sebba, Daily Telegraph Set against a changing backdrop of the golden age of aviation, the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, the Berlin Air Club and Hitler’s bunker, The Women Who Flew for Hitler is the extraordinary story of Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg. Talented, courageous, ambitious and unconventional, they not only made their names as aviators in the male-dominated field of flight, but also became pioneering test pilots. Both were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. Yet they ended their lives on opposite sides of history. Hanna was middle-class and an ardent supporter of the Führer, while Melitta was aristocratic, scholarly and part-Jewish. While Hanna tried to save Hitler’s life, begging him to let her fly him to safety in April 1945, Melitta covertly supported the most famous attempt to assassinate him – the July 1944 bomb plot. A fascinating insight into Nazi Germany and its attitudes to women, class and race, Clare Mulley’s compelling biography has all the excitement and colour of the best fiction. `A serious double biography of two of the most remarkable women in the history of aviation . . . well researched, beautifully written, and gives a perspective on the war that even seasoned students will find refreshing’ Keith Lowe, Spectator `Beautifully written, well-paced and full of drama . . . The story of the two women’s rivalry will never be better told’ Literary Review `The dominant story of the Second World War has been told by men. To hear from women on the front line is a revelation’ New Statesman

A riveting double biography of Nazi Germany's most highly decorated women test pilots – Hitler's personal Valkyries.

Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented, courageous and strikingly attractive women who fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. With the war, both became pioneering test pilots and both were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich. But they could not have been more different and neither woman had a good word to say for the other.

Hanna was middle-class, vivacious and distinctly Aryan, while the darker, more self-effacing Melitta, came from an aristocratic Prussian family. Both were driven by deeply held convictions about honour and patriotism but ultimately while Hanna tried to save Hitler's life, begging him to let her fly him to safety in April 1945, Melitta covertly supported the most famous attempt to assassinate the Führer. Their interwoven lives provide a vivid insight into Nazi Germany and its attitudes to women, class and race.

Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gets under the skin of these two distinctive and unconventional women, giving a full – and as yet largely unknown – account of their contrasting yet strangely parallel lives, against a changing backdrop of the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, the Berlin Air Club, and Hitler's bunker. Told with great narrative flair, The Women Who Flew for Hitler is an extraordinary true story, with all the excitement and colour of the best fiction.