Customer Reviews
"First Light" is FIRST CLASS! - By: Robert J. Evered, 12 May 2008 
The number of reviews for this book should be recommendation enough, gripping from start to finish & a fitting tribute to all Battle of Britain pilots & not least Geoffrey Wellum himself!
From a deeply appreciative American - By: Raymond Haas, 05 May 2008 My lifelong dream of flying a Spitfire has been realized; if notin fact, then certainly by reading this wonderful book.
What more can one ask from a story? While reading I am humbled, proud, heartsick, joyous, angry, philosophical, ambivalent, bored, excited.
I realize that we owe the continuance of Western Civilization to the incredible effort made by people such as Mr. Wellum. I know that the United States might well have been conquered by the Nazis, if not for the supreme effort by the Few. The Holocaust would have been completed, the Nazis would have probably developed the atomic bomb first, Russia would have likely fallen, & the Japanese & Germans would have shaken handsin Asia.
I have always been impressed by the simple, unyielding character of the British. Evenin fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien (who apparently foughtin WWI), summed it up when he had Gandalf say to the Balrog, "You cannot pass." ("You shall not pass"in the movie version). In his book, Wellum says the same thing to his Nazi adversaries: you were not invited here, you are not welcome here, & you shall go no further. Not a mere threat, it was a promise.
I was totally immersed, more than ever before,in the fights that Wellum described. I have read quite a few accounts of dogfights, & this book outdoes them all. Even the innocuous, seemingly random thoughts while Geoff is flying rings true, especially when he describes his wonderment at having such thoughts at strange times. He even describes his curiousity at what his squadron-mates would think if they knew what he was thinking. Seldom do we get such a detailed glimpse into a figther pilot's stream of consciousness, from wide-angle to extreme pin-point thinking.
Thank you, Geoff, for what you did, what you gave, what you endured, & the price that you paid. There are those of us who will make sure that you & your lads will not be forgotten.
First Light - First Class - By: A. Taylor, 28 Apr 2008 An absolute endearing story to a time were we were fighting for our lives. Geoffrey Wellum's account of his early life & training to join the so called 'few' is very heart felt. Details of romances, lost friends & stresses of the battle. A terrific book & easy read for those who are interested but do not know all the details about the Battle of Britain. I was 19 when I read the book, around the same age as Wellum when he joined the RAF. (60 years previously) I have so much respect for these men, who stoicly fought for a war that they gave so much too.
Brilliant - By: Hatman, 16 Apr 2008 The story of a 19 year old 'kid', & how he became a Spitfire pilotin the second world war ... he survived to tall the tale recounted from his personal memories & notes he took at the time. A fascinating read from start to finish, & an even better read if you've also got a pilot's licence [as I have] - he often says 'pilots will understand', & we do.
Typically modest first-hand account - By: JFD, 21 Dec 2007 
A very engaging & modest view of the life of a Spitfire pilot during the Second World War & specifically of course during the Battle of Britain. With fine attention to detail Geoff Wellum recalls his partin both the Battle of Britain & the lifting of the siege of Malta, taking us right through his training to be able to play a partin such monumentous events. The problem I had with the book is that it is rather inward looking, displaying, as it is intended to do, life as it wasin a fighter squadron & indeed a Spitfire but the book is weakened by concentrating solely on the life rather than the times. The context of the events describedin the book is assumed on the part of the reader; this is fine for myself & anyone else who is old enough to be familiar with the immediate history but for younger readers this absence of context will detract from the achievement of Wellum & his comrades. The sheer magnitude of their achievement is lostin the routine mundanity of the work & this hides both the risk involvedin their individual situations & that of the country at large. This is a real pity for we should be eternally grateful to Geoff Wellum & all those like him.
