Product Description

In the dark, early days of the Second World War Britain stood alone against the terror of Hitler's all-conquering Third Reich. Our defence was in the hands of the men flying the Spitfires and Hurricanes of Royal Air Force Fighter Command. They were Churchill's Few. And, when the odds against success were at their most daunting, a handful of American pilots flew with them - in defiance of their own country's strict neutrality laws. There were fewer than ten of them - adventurers, farmhands, barnstormers, even an Olympic bobsleigh champion - who swapped the new world for the grass strips of East Anglian airfields. This is their story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #474642 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

The Times
'Epic storytelling . . . courage and comradeship with personal sacrifice. Kershaw's tone is enthusiastic and colourful; his style demotic and demonstrative; his research gives vivid voice to the "Few"'

Sunday Telegraph
'Fine, deeply moving, scintillating . . . in the battle scenes this book soars heavenward like one of the Spitfires. By the end one is left feeling profoundly humble'

About the Author
Alex Kershaw is the author of two widely acclaimed books about the Second World War -- Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter -- as well as acclaimed biographies of Robert Capa and Jack London. He has been a journalist and screenwriter and has written for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer and GQ. He was born in the UK and has lived in the US since 1994. He lives in Vermont.

Customer Reviews

Americans in the Battle of Britain
The book centres on five American pilots who volunteered for service to fly with the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain, and is a useful addition to the vast number of books that have been published about this particular conflict.

Unfortunately, the book is bedevilled by factual inaccuracies which should have been corrected during editing/proof reading and which ultimately detract from the narrative.

The Few - Alex Kershaw
Very disapointing. A worthwhile subject written in an engaging style but ruined by many basic errors that should have been picked up by the editors and proof readers. The author's credibility is seriously damaged by the publication of a book containing so many elementary howlers.

Readable but flawed
"The Few" is Alex Kershaw's work on five Americans who defied their country's neutrality laws to fight in the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Sounds wonderful in summary but unfortunately the book has quite a number of flaws and (as others have already mentioned) inaccuracies. I ordered a copy from the USA as soon as it was published in 2006 as I have more than a passing interest in Billy Fiske (one of the Americans covered in "The Few") and have been collecting information on him for a number of years now. What I found with "The Few", at least with Fiske anyway, was a work which basically just rehashed all the information (both true and false) already published regarding Fiske from other books and magazine articles. There was no sign that the author had tried to do any deeper digging regarding research or uncover new unpublished facts regarding Fiske, which disappointed me hugely.

Saying that, the writing style is engaging and the book whips along when read. It is not the definitive work on Americans in the Battle of Britain and it is not entirely accurate in places, but I suppose it will do the job of encouraging readers who know little about the Battle of Britain and these men to want to find out more. In my opinion it is a shame that it could not have been more, both in accuracy, scope and research.