Customer Reviews
A classic piece of history - By: R. Bowe, 07 Aug 2008 
I picked this book up from Amazon for £3.99 & as always I am mindful of the fact that cheap books do not always equate with a quality read. How wrong I was & this book is a little piece of modern history. Hugh Allen (Co-Editor) is one of the few survivors of this interpid band of WW 2 Spitfire pilots belonging to 66 Squadron. The foreword is written by Jimmy Corbin, himself a pilot & chapter contributor.
The re-issued book provides personal histories of the exploits of 10 of these pilots & it was first writtenin 1942. What makes this book unique is that each of the 10 chapters are written by the pilots themselves soon after the 1940 Battle of Britain, each having their own distinct personalities & writing style. As you progress through the book you begin to see the interdependance between each pilot during this period of conflict. Unlike other accounts of the Battle of Britain the differing perspectives allow a glimpse of the diversity of the RAF pilots of the day, from sergeant to officer pilots, Wing Commanders to Squadron Leaders, Dead end kids to public school boys. The tragedy of war is that people do die & we have accounts of pilots completing their chapters & being killedin action soon after. I usually take my time reading a book of this nature but on this occassion I could not put it down. Ordinarily, I am not usually drawn to writing book reviews but I was enthralled by the book. A book filled with humour, excitement & tragedy. Whilstin a reflective mood I have sat outsidein the garden on a balmy summer evening peering into the sky. I gaze at aircraft vapour trails flying thinking that 68 years ago, these young guys were flying at 30,000 feet fighting & dying for a national cause. A sobering thought! I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get a real sense of the Battle of Britain. Perhaps a book to be taken on holiday & when you are flying long haul 5 miles high spare a thought for these pilots.
an amazing book - By: 99conman, 07 Aug 2008 Before i perchesed this book i was just getting to know the subject of ww2, & i hoped this book could give me an insight to the battle of britain. The book gave me everything i wanted, i couldn't put it down, one of the only & best first hand accounts of the battle of britain & would recomed it to anyone iterestedin ww2 or aviation history. A truly great book!
Amazing tales of courage and gripping first-hand accounts - By: Tranmere45, 31 Mar 2008 Great to see this reissued after so many years out of print. The different personalities & experiences come across so well, & you really feel as though you're getting a true taste of the warin the air during World War II. There aren't many first-hand accounts that were written during the war, so these are really valuable historical records as well. The men seem to have a humility & quiet strength, as well as a sense of humour. I really enjoyed hearing ten different stories.
It's so sad to read that quite a few of the pilots didn't survive very long after writing their chapter, it really brings home to you how precarious life was for them.
Certainly a wartime classic that deserves to be read by anyone interestedin the subject.
