It is early 1941, and Harry Rose, recently recovered from the injuries he suffered the previous year in the Battle Of Britain, is posted to a Bristol Beaufighter night fighter unit based in eastern England.
Defeated by day, the Luftwaffe switch their campaign of bombing to a night one, their aim to overwhelm and subdue the British with a ferocious onslaught that will soon become known as The Blitz.
Harry Rose and a small band of British night fighter air crews will join in the defence of their nation, and show the enemy that even in the darkest night, there is nowhere to hide...
I generously gave 3 stars. The book was a series of descriptions of the pilot’s nightly flights. There were technical descriptions about altitude, degrees of turning and others that I had no clue about. I found myself skimming over much of the book just hoping for something to happen. The other scenes that played out were sickeningly sweet “romance” conversations. I know this was set long ago but I have to wonder if people really talked that way.
There was a bit of excitement here and there but definitely not enough to recommend this book unless you’re really into flying and enjoy the lingo.
The Avendency of Radar to enable Night & All Weather Fighters to Combat Night Bombers
Covers the roles of the Pilot/Operator Team, The Chain Home Radar & Communication Networks, The German Bombers & Night Fighters, and The Role of Women in these networks. As well as the private lives, including ambitions, values, romance/marriages, love & faith in God. Filled with exciting actions sequences, command decisions, contributions of ground crews & support forces, and more. Can recognize the eventual contributions to modern aircraft & systems enhanced by computers & advanced networks and software of today. Great Chacters & Personal Stories.
The novel really had me at the last. It was a wild ride of a page-turner that I don't often encounter in this genre. I'm a bit of an amateur aviation historian; the radar war in WW II has always fascinated me. As soon as I can, I plan to build a miniature scale model of the Bristol Beaufighter in nightfighter colours. Looking for a read you can't put down? Sullman writes as if it's a screenplay and you really imagine you are up there in combat with "Flash" Rose and "Chalky" White.
Fun to read with a good story line however of you are wanting accurate flying details you may be found wanting; "With the port motor junked and only his starboard engine now remaining functional, Bruno found the Junkers wanting to roll and yaw to the right, and he frantically struggled with the rudder, trim and ailerons to find that magic balance that might yet save them and keep the battered Junkers in the air" also "87 octane gasoline"? In the 40's? Anyway ill be reading book 3 next
I thought a story about British nightfighters would be interesting and that aspect of the book was enjoyable and the reason I read until the end. However, the depiction of Harry and Molly's relationship and particularly the dialogue was awful (I could have used many worse adjectives here!). I doubt that a couple as capable as these two would have spoken to each other like that and it was more in keeping with some poor quality romantic novella, not a World War 2 novel.
A very dated read that will have you cringing with embarrassment at the blatant sexism of the author's descriptions of the female characters.
I loved the descriptions of the aerial battles, but hated the almost "Biggles" style storyline with its schoolboy, flag-waving, never say die English patriotism!
A brilliantly written novel following on from To do so few as Harry returns to flying nightfighters and not his Hurricane single seater, with his new backseat passenger!! he once more sets off to fight , The author has truly written an amazing tribute to the RAF pilots who flew nightfighters.
#2 in a trilogy. Pilot Officer Harry Rose survives his stinti in Huricanes (barely) and is tranferred to a new plane and squadron. The planes are Beaufighters, rudimentary night intercepters mounted with the earliest form of radar. The Nazis have switched to a night time bombing campaign due to the losses suffered during their earlier day bombing campaign. Enjoyable read.
Recommended as enjoyable tale of men and women of Britain fighting to save their way of life. some successfully done despite high odds. The story is told with romance nicely accompanying the tragedy seen in Britain and Europe’s successful struggle against the German aggressive actions of war.
The characters in this series are not the two dimensional characters of most WW II stories. Real characters, with real feelings , fears and hopes. Lots of action filled with details that are well researched. The narrative moves the story along with good pace which makes it difficult to put down.
Well written and researched in realistic detail based on accounts by the Airmen who flew the warbirds. Good characterizations of the people who Sullman wrote about. Too many other books portray the characters as cardboard cutouts. Sullman writes from the heart, to those of us who can relate to those warm-blooded and sometimes imperfect people.
This book rightly deserves the rating that I have given it. There is far too few books about the activities of the night fighters of WW2. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the RAF during the war.
In spite of the lurid and unnecessary sex, this is a great read if one wants to learn what went on in the dark skies where the night fighters waged their struggle in WW2 English skies.
Enjoyed the book very much - good story line. However, I didn't like the way the auther wrote of adult femailes as 'girls'- they are not girls they are women (adults) also the constant references to the male organ - yuk! Leave all that out and it would be a much better read.
Things like nightfighters get very little play in the aerial World War II libraries. This continuation of a solid Harry Rose is technical enough, exciting in story, and just bawdy enough for modern readers. Looking forward to the third of the series. A rollicking good read.
Ready to read about Night Fighters, the first I’ve heard of them. British Night Fighters, darker than the inside of a golf ball, well written and exciting to the end.
“Beaufighter Blitz” is a novel about the early days of radar being used by the RAF on night fighter operations against the Luftwaffe bombers. I couldn’t put it down once I started reading it!
Great insight to the night fighters, both English and German. Having been a radar operator and air intercept controller, from A-4's to F-14's, from scope control to computer control, this was very accurate and showed the good and bad with the radar.
This is a fine tale of the relatively unknown night fighters of world war 2. While not much clear information of the technology used, this story is fast-paced and somewhat predictable, but still a worthwhile read if you enjoy aviation.
I did not appreciate the very graphic, detailed exotic sex descriptions even though between married couples. It took away from the story line and was unneeded.
This second.book in the series is full of aerial action that keeps you reading. It also contains some pretty graphic love scenes but they’re in context so understood. Harry Rose and Chalky White are ready for new, different adventures in book 3.
Good action. Historical accuracy. Good character development. Gratuitous sex. I did carry on to the ultimate conclusion. Grateful the final battle avoided tritely becoming personal.
A super read, spoiled only by a worse than usual lack of joining words. This malady really does annoy, it would be so good to get back to human editing.
This is an interesting book, with lots of action. The only downside is that the book drags at times, and you wish that the character would say what they had to say and get on with it. Despite that comment, I enjoyed the book overall.