The Battle Of Britain: The Fight for Survival in 1940

Clear blue skies laced white with vapour trails of fighting aircraft... petrol-filled beer bottles in the garden shed to repel the panzers... streets deserted when the Prime Minister was on the wireless... radar screens picking up German fighters and bombers approaching the English coast... In 1940 the fate of the civilised world hung on the outcome of the Battle of Britain. It seems another world - and indeed it was. Still at school at the time, Michael Bowyer applies his unrivalled skill to recreate the scene of that finest hour using snippets from official notices, the words of Winston Churchill and items of incidental information to help conjure up the atmosphere of the time. More than that, he imbues it with a relish for evoking a way of life unimaginably different from today. As the course of the fighting and many of the main engagements are portrayed, Michael Bowyer recreates the realization that invasion was a strong possibility. the day by day account includes the success or otherwise of German raids and the battle is viewed in the wider context of the war in which both Bomber Command and Coastal Command played a vital role. Loss lists, serial numbers of aircraft involved in the action, and an analysis of bombs dropped together with maps, diagrams, newspaper snippets, charts and over 250 photographs provide an assembly of facts and narration of events with which to savour that famous hour.