Battle over Britain

by Francis K. Mason

Battle over A History of the German Air Assaults on Great Britain, 1917-18 and July-december 1940, and of the Development of Britain's Air Defences Between the World Wars

636 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Ed Wijninga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read quite a few books on the Battle of Britain but never came accross a book so comprehensive and detailed as this book. To me this is the standard work on the subject, notwithstanding the fact that it was written in 1969 and might be a bit dated. Highly recommended to try and find the book on the second-hand market!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" -Winston Churchill's famous quote referring to the six hundred R.A.F. fighter pilots who halted the German invasion of Britain and quite possibly Nazi world domination.
At first look the day by day chronicle of attacks on Britain in the summer of '40 appear to be a bit tedious for the average reader, but as the narrative moves forward the feeling of acute anxiety and desperation builds to tidal wave strength. Londoners feeling the drone of german bombers smashing their city night after night. Countrymen setting up road blocks guarded with pitchforks. Road signs hastily set in wrong directions. The entire country bracing for imminent invasion. I often wonder how I and my fellow Chicagoans would fair if the enemy were suddenly at our gates? The book is peppered with spectacular first hand accounts of air to air combat along with richly printed photographs.