Product Description

The Battle of Britain, fought in the skies over Britain during the sweltering summer of 1940, was one of the most crucial battles ever fought: without the Luftwaffe's control of the skies it was unlikely that Nazi Germany would mount an invasion across the Channel. For most of the 3000 young British airmen involved this was their first real experience of combat. The pressure on the pilots, groundcrew and their controllers was unimaginable; at certain points in the Battle a single blunder or failure of nerve could have been enough to tip the balance of the contest and give victory to the enemy. Patrick Bishop creates a surprising portrait of the Battle drawing on previously unseen source material and testimonies from survivors on both sides. Against the background of wider strategic considerations, he focuses on the lives and thoughts of the combatants, their attitudes towards "the enemy" and their aircraft, the fear, horror and exhilaration of flight and battle, attempts by each side to gain the upper hand through daring technological innovations, coping tactics, mess room life and friendships.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #337484 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 420 pages

Review
This is a study of the lives and times of the British fighter pilots who comprised RAF Fighter Command from the build-up to war through to the Battle of Britain. The focus is not just on the wider strategic picture, but on the experiences of the men and women involved in the conflict. Many of the diaries, memoirs and letters featured belong to those at the 'point of the spear', the cockpits of the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. Of course books like this have been seen many times before - Bishop has not chosen a neglected period of British history to study, nor does his book sheer away from an irritatingly familiar jingoistic approach to the subject matter. The summer of 1940 maintains a peculiar hold on the British public imagination, immortalised in book and film as the heroic time when Britain stood alone. Perhaps attempts to study this from a British perspective will never be free of this aura. At the same time, however, the familiar feel of the period allows the reader to slip easily into a text which carefully avoids becoming bogged down in detail, and draws from an impressive selection of interesting personal histories. Both moving and exciting, the book is also careful not to neglect the harsher elements of the air war and tries to look behind the legend of the young gentlemanly fighter pilots of the era. The more unpleasant tales of the demolishing of the idea of chivalry in the air, the appalling strain on the psyche of the absurdly young pilots; the often unglamorous deaths of those airmen who seemed destined for greatness - all are rightly given their due. This is a well-written study of a period of British history that will perhaps never lose its fascination. (Kirkus UK)

A spirited account of what Winston Churchill deemed the Royal Air Force's "finest hour": the defense of English skies against the advancing Luftwaffe in the summer of 1940. Since Churchill's day, the Battle of Britain has been among the most heavily studied episodes of WWII-and rightly so, the four-month-long dogfight having been one of the early turning points of that great conflict, setting the stage for future Allied victories. Daily Telegraph associate editor Bishop adds to the literature twofold. By focusing on the young men who, smitten by visions of heroism and fed in childhood on tales of WWI aces real (Albert Ball) and fictional (James Bigglesworth), made up the fighter wings of the RAF in the opening days of the war against Hitler, he first delivers a class-conscious, highly personalized view of the battle. "You did not need ties of blood or romance to feel a particular bond with the Fighter Boys," he writes of his contemporary compatriots. "The backgrounds of the 3,000 or so pilots flying Hurricanes and Spitfires in the summer of 1940 reflected the social composition of the nation." Which is to say, unlike the British army, the RAF was made up of men who, in the main, had come from the working class or risen from the ranks, whose notions of patriotism and duty were a shade different from those of the upper crust. (For all that, one of Bishop's heroes is Denis Wissler, an heir to the fortune wrought by Marmite, the strange vegetable spread beloved of the English.) Second, Bishop draws liberally on the memories of the Luftwaffe pilots who flew against England, many of whom believed, in the words of one, that "it would be possible to beat the English in England the way we had beaten them in France." As, of course, they did not: and whereas the Battle of Britain didn't, strictly speaking, bleed the Luftwaffe dry, Bishop does a good job of considering the implications of the German failure in light of subsequent developments throughout the European theater of operations. Nicely written and rich in detail: a winner for students of aerial warfare. (Kirkus Reviews)

Evening Standard, 6 May 2003
'powerful yet restrained, at times almost unbearably touching, narrative'

Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph, May 11, 2003
'I know no more thoughtful nor yet more moving study of their achievement than that which Patrick Bishop has produced.'

Customer Reviews

smashing
Luckily enough i procured a copy of this book in advance of official publication and am glad i did so. I have read dozens of books on the great aerial conflict known as the Battle of Britain and thought there was no more to say on the subject. How wrong I was! Mr Bishop has dug deep into the subject and has found all sorts of new things shedding new and unimagined light upon the battle that saved Britain from the Nazi invaders. He hails the young pilots who fought so bravely. He does not fall into the common trap of lauding them as unblemished heroes (no heroines in the skies in those days!). He says many were ordinary and flawed though also undoubtedly they were brave. He pours scorn on the myths regarding their foes, the Germans, saying they too deserve credit. There is so much to enjoy here. Mr Bishop conjures up the fear and excitement of battle. He evokes the smell of combat and the relief when crews sat down in their Messes to tuck into a good old fashioned English supper of egg,chips and baked beans. This book is not for the faint hearted. He pulls no punches.

Never forget them
Patrick Bishop has written a detailed and poignant account of the dark days of 1940, and the Hurricane and Spitfire pilots who stood between us and the dreaded Nazis!

Many memoir and diary entries are quoted to give us a real impression for the feelings of these young men as they went into battle - not just the gung-ho sentiments of the standard war movies. Particularly touching were those pilots mourning the deaths of close comrades; one man seeing the towel that his roommate had thrown casually on the window sill that morning, little realising that he would never return to pick it up to go for another shower.

The story moves backwards and forwards chronologically a little, but this is almost inevitable with this sort of anecdotal history.

An enjoyable read and a good testament to these bravest of men...

Another Battle of Britain book?
Another Battle of Britain book? Yes...and a worthwhile addition to that crowded shelf.

Fighter Boys takes the pilot's view of the aerial war of 1940 and succeeds in painting an eloquent and often harrowing picture of what it was like for those who fought. As far as history is concerned, Bishop has nothing much new to say, but this gives him space to concentrate on the human tales of both sides, RAF and Luftwaffe.

Patrick Bishop's greatest strength is his keen understanding of the RAF's history and mentality, and he does a fine job of explaining its complex attitude to rank, nationality, individualism and class.

My main criticism is that the technical dimension is neglected. While the book contains many insights into the lives of the pilots and ground crew of Fighter Command - and deals well with the question of how RAF tactics compared with those of the Luftwaffe - it omits a great deal of the technical detail that actually bound together the lives and experiences of those involved. I'm thinking of aircraft manufacture, testing, maintenance and armament; flying techniques and pet modifications favoured by the pilots; the detection of enemy aircraft; and airborne communication and ground control, both at day and at night.

But this book is really very good: humane, balanced and compelling. If you are already widely read on the subject of the Battle of Britain, you will find much of interest. If on the other hand you are new to the subject, this book will provide an excellent and balanced overview and will spark off new and rewarding lines of further reading.