This book is a brief outline of the history of the formation and combat use of airborne troops of the countries participating in the Second World War. The text, compiled on the basis of a large number of domestic and foreign sources, allows readers to familiarize themselves with previously unknown episodes of the war, in which this then young military branch participated, episodes of heroic and tragic. Separate sections of the book are devoted to the analysis of the weapons and uniforms of the paratroopers of the anti-Hitler coalition and the countries of the fascist "axis."