Product Description

It is difficult to overestimate the excitement that accompanied the birth of the Spitfire. An aircraft imbued with balletic grace and extraordinary versatility, it was powered by a piston engine and a propeller, yet came tantalisingly close to breaking the sound barrier. First flown in 1936, the Spitfire soon came to symbolize Britain's defiance of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1940. Flown by pilots of many nations, it saw service as far afield as Australia and the Soviet Union. "Spitfire: The Biography" is a celebration of a great British invention, of the men and women who flew it, and supported its development, and of the industry that manufactured both the aircraft and the Rolls-Royce engines that powered it. It is also about a boy who wished he could have been a Second World War fighter pilot and who was later able to fly the aircraft that took his father into combat.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180967 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-12
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 260 pages

Adrian Swire, Spectator
`Elegant and meticulously researched... an authoritative and
comprehensive tribute to a unique aircraft.'

Giles Whittell, The Times
`Superbly readable.'

Rowland White
`Stylishly written and entertainingly told, SPITFIRE is a real
treasure-trove of fascinating anecdote... A wonderful book.'

Customer Reviews

Not just about spitfires
The main thing to be aware of when considering the purchase of this book is that a substantial section of this book is not about the spitfire aircraft as such. About 40% of the book is about other fighter aircraft contemporary with the spitfire or about the spitfire in comics and films. Had the title made this clearer, there would not have been much to gripe about. The content of the book appears detailed and well-researched with information I had not seen before. Not a bad buy but not what you might have expected.

Spitfire for the 21st century
This is a book that I read in a weekend and could not put it down. Yes it compares the Spitfire with other aircraft of its generation, but it is this comparison that brings out the genius that was R.J Mitchells masterpiece.

The book deals with all aspects of the Spitfire and where the auther thinks criticism is justified it is levelled. It does however look at the legacy not just of the aircraft itself but the whole aura that surrounds it.

If you have an interest in WW2 aircraft, in that period of our countries history or you are a bulge baby like me you will love this book.

Intersting for newbies
I am not sure what this book is supposed to be. It is a 'fan book' in that the author is clearly a great fan of a great plane. So long as you go into it with that in mind you will have a great read. For Spitfire purists this might seem a lesser important contribution to the already extensive coverage of this plane.
That's the problem in a way - I thought everything that could possibly be written about this plane had already been covered. Publishers are guaranteed better sales if the book or magazine has a Spitfire on the cover. You could call it 'The Diana Syndrome' that endless seemingly inexhaustible fascination with a subject.
There is no doubt the author has put in the time with this book. I did find some interesting facts new to me. But as one other reviewer says there's a good deal of stuff in the middle which is not directly about the Spitfire rather it is about its opponents. This is fine but I found myself skimming through this as it was so slight in places. That's not surprising given the number of opponents that Spitfire crews faced. As he shows, this plane is special because it fought through the entire WW2 and even into later conflicts.
Perhaps instead he could have shortened this down and given us more about the survivors. There are lots of Spitfires still flying and some impressions of what they are like to fly and their history would be good. Plus there is little by way of setting the Spitfire as regards 'kills'. It was not the machine any of the top 'aces' used but maybe it was responsible for more kills than most Allied planes. Some analysis of this would be nice but perhaps this would be better tackled by someone like Mike Spick.
Personally, I would wait until this book comes out in paperback. Then you could take this with you on a long trip and enjoy the read.