- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (27 July 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0142004669
- ISBN-13: 978-0142004661
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,753,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Daily Telegraph, May 3, 2003
'as a vivid chronicle of who the Battle of Britain pilots were, what motivated them, and why they were ultimately successful, Fighter Boys is unsurpassed.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Evening Standard, 6 May 2003
'powerful yet restrained, at times almost unbearably touching, narrative'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As someone who has studied the Battle of Britain in copious detail these many years past I can say this book adds nothing to the sum of knowledge. What it does superbly is give people who are not specialists as I am a fine summary of what it felt like to be a young man in the RAF charged with the onerous duty of combating the Luftwaffe's formidable onslaught upon the British Isles. In sweeping and breathtaking prose Mr Bishop steers the non specialist reader into the skies with such vividity the non specialist must feel he or she is actually up there. For non pilots this must be a strange yet also exciting sensation. Courage, courage and courage. These are the qualities that sustained these young men. Also humour as Mr Bishop amply explains. To specialists such as me there are minor quibbles and flaws, of no interest to the run of the mill reader. Mr Bishop is wrong most emphatically in his assertions regarding the turning circles, acceleratory capacities, air frame to power inverse ratios and aerlion spivets of the Spitfire in comparison to the lesser known Hurricane. To specialists such as myself these are irritations. To the general public they will not detract from what is a magnificient work and a worthy tribute to the men who saved us from the German armada awaiting across the Channel had the RAF faltered. To all who doubt our debt I say they should read this wonderful book.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a self confessed connoisseur of the Battle of Britain I did not think I could learn any more about it. I was mistaken! This book takes the lid off what the men who fought on both sides were like. Often nice, but not always but always, without exception, deserving of our admiration for what they did. Other books provide more on what the planes could do and the grand plans behind the battle. Mr Bishop steers clear of such well trodden territory and admits he is no military historian and as such is not equipped to give an opinion. He writes about the raw emotions of the batlle and makes no attempt to dress it up in fancy literary language. No, he writes nice and simply in an almost childlike fashon and all the more effective it is for that in that his theme is the innocence of the young pilots. No gung ho book this but a book to make you think.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fighter Boys. Saving Britain.
When Britain stood alone in the hectic and volatile Summer of 1940. All that stood between winning and losing our freedom was a handful of brave fighter pilots. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2007 by Spitfire Sam
memorable and moving
i echo my fellow americans. sick of simple gingoistic books by americans celebrating our nation's military prowess comes a welcome reminder, a rejoinder if you like, from one of... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2003
From Sopwiths To Spitfires
My prediction is that this book will be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. If I'm wrong....well, I shouldn't be. That's how good it is. Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2003 by Bruce Loveitt
Highly Atmospheric
Most books about the Battle of Britain fail to convey what it was like to be a Fighter Boy in 1940. Many perpetrate old myths and repeat often quoted inaccuratcies. Read more
Published on 11 July 2003 by "john68556"
Highly Atmospheric
Most books about the Battle of Britain fail to convey what it was like to be a Fighter Boy in 1940. Many perpetrate old myths and repeat often quoted inaccuratcies. Read more
Published on 11 July 2003 by "john68556"
Highly Atmospheric
Most books about the Battle of Britain fail to convey what it was like to be a Fighter Boy in 1940. Many perpetrate old myths and repeat often quoted inaccuratcies. Read more
Published on 11 July 2003 by "john68556"
Exciting and readable
Based largely on interviews with the survivors and records in the IWM, this is a very readable account of RAF's Fighter Command from the phoney war to the close of the Battle of... Read more
Published on 6 July 2003
balanced and topical
What a timely reminder of how much we owe the fliers of the RAF. The RAF and their colleagues in the USAF fought in Iraq just as the RAF battled the Germans over the green swards... Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2003
inspiring
Having only flown as a passenger in a plane on my holidays to the south of France, where I have been going since a boy, this was a breathtaking experience. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2003
magnificent
This is a moving account of the battle of britain that shows that the brave fliers of Britain were more than a match for the nazi fliers of the German Luftwaffe. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2003
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