Battle Of Britain - A decent book anyone?

[roughcutter]

I must confess having been an aircraft enthusiast for most of my life, I have never actually read any book on the Battle of Britain. I have read the odd biography or two of pilots who took part in these historic events, seen the film umpteentimes, read articles in aircraft mags and seen countless historical documentaries etc... But have never actually read the book.
In it's seventieth anniversary, there are many titles on this subject to choose from, I would be interested to hear other members reccomendations. I'm not neccesarily looking for an afficianado's tome covering every minor aspect in minute detail, nor am I after a general glossary of the events. Just a compelling account, a really good read!
Cheers in anticipation, MarkL

[GOOSE]

Have you tried the "Lost Voices" series?

A host of books, about different aspects of both wars, mainly interviews, thoughts and commentaries from survivors.

Most of the stuff is taken from memoirs recorded by the Imperial War Museum.

Exceptionally compelling reading.............

[SteveS]

The Hardest Day

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hardest-Day-Bri ... 770&sr=8-1

[Grahame W]

"A compelling account, a really good read"? In my opinion, you should look no further than "The Most Dangerous Enemy" by Stephen Bungay.

[kristianrj]

"Fighter" by Len Deighton was the best BofB book I read for factual information. It dispels many of the popular myths about things like the Spitire vs the 109.

"Duel of Eagles" by Peter Townsend is excellent and covers the few gaps in "Fighter".

"First Light" is the best overall book about the battle I've read, but it's a very personal account. Geoff Wellum is amazing, I'd recommend this book to any aviation enthusiast even if you're not interested in the BofB!

"Fighter Pilot" by Paul Richey isn't about the BofB but it's up there with "First Light" in terms of being an amazing personal description of flying in WW2. He flew Hurricanes in the Battle for France.

[Andrewausfa]

I'd suggest Patrick Bishops 'The Battle of Britain' and Alfred Prices 'The Hardest Day'.

Andrew

[roughcutter]

Wow that's fantastic feedback gents, cheers. There are some really interesting titles in there but the three that stand out the most are; The Most Dangerous Enemy by Stephen Bungay
The Hardest Day by Dr Alfred Price
and First Light by Geofrey Wellum. I saw the very moving documentry about him a couple of weeks ago.
They've all had exceptionally good reviews in Amazon, it's difficult to choose. I'll probably buy all three now that they're available as paperbacks. I also noticed a Battle of Britain title by James Holland (he authored the excellent Fortress Malta).

Thanks again for your feedback, that's my bedtime reading sorted for the next few weeks!

MarkL

[teeonefixer]

If you want ta complete study includingthe set up of Fighter Command, its control system etc, the full list of participants & units, and a day-by-day account of actions & lossses, i recommend Battle Over Britain by Francis K Mason (ISBN 0-946627-15-0). Not only very thorough but you can dip in and out !
its 20 years old now, so try it out from your local library ?

[roughcutter]

Noted, cheers!

ML