Product Description

Already hailed as the standard work, whose comprehensiveness is unlikely to be surpassed, The Most Dangerous Enemy is a magnificently authoritative history of the British battle that most galvanises the imagination and symbolises the destiny of a nation.

But in rigorously re-investigating every aspect of the Battle of Britain - and above all the traditional version of Britain's victory as 'a close-run thing' - Stephen Bungay tells a story full of surprises. Whether assessing the development of radar, the relative merits of the Spitfire, Hurricane and Messerschmitt, or the crucial role played by Fighter Command's Keith Park, this book uncovers the unexpected truth behind many of its time-honoured myths.

Not only a major work of modern history but also a truly compelling narrative, The Most Dangerous Enemy confirms the Battle of Britain as a crucial event in European history and the debut of a brilliant new military historian.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18279 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Sunday Times
A fascinating case history in illusion and reality. He dispels the myths and kills the cliches...Admirable.

Times Literary Supplement
This is the most exhaustive and detailed account of the Battle of Britain that has yet appeared.

The Herald
Bungay sets out to reassess the Battle of Britain without the mythology and to reflect on the values it embodies...

Customer Reviews

Excellent
This book is simply amazing. The first chapters describe the development of machines and tactics that later on played important part during the Battle. It makes the whole book much easier to understand. From Home Chain to fighter planes, from vic formation to German tactics - it gives you lots of details. Later on the author describes the actual combat action, aims, targets etc. In later chapters you will find info about accuracy and effectiveness of pilots. It shows how aces differed from regular pilots.
At the same time it is a book that you will be reading very quickly and still wanting to go a little further. There's no time for boredom.
The book is a general description of events of the summer of 1940. Dont look in it for a detailed information regarding particular pilots. The author mentions them just in order to present their sories as something that might have happened to any of the pilots. It also mentions the role of the allies - Czech, Polish and other fighter pilots, however Mr. Bungay once again doesn't go into details (apart from describing the 303 Squadron as one of Keith Park's "Praetorian Guards":) ). Also you will find here stories of amazing courage as the account of how the VC has been won.
All in all - great book, really worth reading.

Balanced, indepth, interesting...and captivating
As a book capturing the reader, the opening describes a young pilot, Bob Doe, experiencing one of his first flights against the Luftwaffe. Similar to the approach Richard Holmes uses in `Redcoat', but factual, Stephen Bungay takes care to place you in the front line, where all the arguments, tactics and numbers boiled down to life, maiming or death.

As a piece of factual writing this works because it offers the reader in addition to the human factor, it starts to supply the technical details required to understand the Battle i.e. what qualities Bob Doe, as a pilot, possessed that increased his chances of surviving.

Yes, the book quotes numbers, but the armament issue is correct (see an earlier review). .303 lacks power compared to a HE 20mm round but two sets of four grouped and well zeroed .303's in the wing of a Hurricane provide benefits too.

Why the use of statistics works, is that the statistics are used to illustrate the arguments and not to make you think what a great guy the author is for finding all these numbers. 'Luftwaffe - Strategy for Defeat' does tend to go the other way at times.

The author is also willing to review existing arguments without creating the impression that we're reading the booking thinking of the pilots as Biggles or any other stereotype or that all arguments are black and white. He also takes pains to point out that things look very different when experienced as a pilot whose experiences come as a man in a squadron, and a cockpit vs the occurrences across Southern England as experience by Fighter Command.

Faults or good points in people and organisations are well considered, even when considering Leigh-Mallory's fixation with 'Big-Wings'.

I have just finished the author's second book and hope he has a third planned.

Outstanding, lyrical, moving
Okay, I liked this. A lot. Of the many many books that are out there about That Summer of 1940, this one soars effortlessly above them - into the wild blue yonder.

It's not hard to get choked up anyway about that period from May to September 1940. Even as France fell, and Britain waited to see what Germany would do, the mythologisers were at work -- not the least of whom was Winston Churchill himself. Now myth can actually be a good thing -- taking the essence and stripping away the daily details. Certainly it was a vital part of Britain's self-belief - and you could argue - its survival.

Stephen Bungay's achievement is to strip away the myth, and let the true colours of the summer of aerial conflict above the hopfields of Kent shine through. An astounding work and I highly recommend it.