- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Channel 4 Books; illustrated edition edition (27 Dec 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752225111
- ISBN-13: 978-0752225111
- Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 19.3 x 2.5 cm
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
817,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #79 in Books > History > World History > World War II 1939-1945 > Weapons > Spitfire
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Product Description
The Times
Spitfire Ace is among the best in a good year for oral histories.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
The tie-in to a major Channel 4 series, Spitfire Ace provides a vivid portrait of the few that flew in the Battle of Britain, 1940. The Battle of Britain, 1940, was one of the most famous air battles in the history of warfare and it is a story of ruthless organisation, brilliant control and command. But at its heart is one particular figure, a legend ever since - the RAF fighter pilot. And one particular plane - a piece of machinery that has almost mythic historical glamour - the Supermarine Spitfire. Accompanying a major Channel 4 series of the same name, Spitfire Ace will reintroduce us to the few that flew in the Battle of Britain and will include interviews with 25 of the 35 surviving veteran Spitfire pilots. Combined with a historical narrative of the events surrounding the Battle of Britain, we'll learn for the first time what it was really like to fly a Spitfire and to experience combat flying at its most visceral. Fully illustrated with over eighty photographs and contemporary archive material, Spitfire Ace will provide a vivid portrait of the fighter boys and their finest hour, their planes (to include Spitfires, Hurricanes and Messerchmitts) and Fighter Command - RAF versus the Luftwaffe.
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4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Battle of Britain Then and Now!, 14 Oct 2009
By Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spitfire Ace - Flying the Battle of Britain (Hardcover)
This interesting volume, published by England's Channel 4 Books, revisits the Battle of Britain but with a twist. Sparked by an encounter with a two-seat Spitfire, television producer Martin Davidson decided to create a TV show featuring two young English lads who would undergo the pilot training received by their contemporaries back in 1940. That experiment, in turn, led Davidson and James Taylor to research the Battle of Britain with particular emphasis on those surviving Spitfire aces who flew in the Battle. SPITFIRE ACE is the story of those intertwining threads.
The bulk of SPITFIRE ACE is given over to the BoB. The authors detail the history of the RAF in the 1930s, its organization, the commanders who led it in the successful repulse of the Luftwaffe in 1940, RAF training and equipment, the development of radar, the birth of the Spit and the Hurricane, etc. Included in this are lengthy reminiscences by RAF pilots like Bob Doe, Nigel Rose, Peter Brothers, Gerald Stapleton, George Unwin, Billy Drake and Allan Wright that provide an insider's view of that important period of history. Around all that is woven descriptions of the selection of four Englishmen, the willowing down of the four to two and then one, personal comments by the four and so on.
The Battle of Britain has been written about endlessly. SPITFIRE ACE presents a pretty standard history of the Battle and preceding events; no new revelations here. Its main strength is the comments from the pilots and groundcrew which put a very human face on those long-ago events. The Channel 4 "competition," by contrast, is pretty straightforward, interesting but not as much as the BoB material.
The book features dozens of vintage and contemporary b&w and color photographs, maps and diagrams.
In short, SPITFIRE ACE is an appealing and unique combination of Royal Air Force history then-and-now. Recommended.
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