Though the Luftwaffe ordered the Messerschmitt Bf 109 as its front-line fighter, Ernst Heinkel proposed a much faster aircraft. This was the He 100, completed in 1937, a small, sleek, clipped-wing single-seat aircraft with an inverted vee 12-cylinder Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine. On March 30, 1939, piloted by Hans Dieterle, the He 100 set a new world speed record when the eighth prototype aircraft flew at 746.6 km/h, delighting Hitler with a global propaganda coup. While a number were sold to the Soviet Union and Japan, the rest were taken by the Luftwaffe to form the Heinkel-Rostock defense unit. In 1940, this unit was used by Goebbels to convince Britain that Germany had another fighter in service, the fake "He 113". The He 100 was a mysterious aircraft, about which still relatively little is known. This book covers all aspects of the aircraft"s development, the various sub-series produced, its high-speed accomplishments, and its propaganda and intelligence purposes. The aircraft supplied to Russia and Japan are examined as well as a later project based on it. This volume also includes a number of previously unpublished photographs, color artworks, and specially produced detailed technical drawings.