The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940 - Hardcover

Holland, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312675003 ISBN 13: 9780312675004

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2011

Synopsis

A groundbreaking new account of the Battle of Britain from acclaimed historian James Holland

The Battle of Britain paints a stirring picture of an extraordinary summer when the fate of the world hung by a thread. Historian James Holland has now written the definitive account of those months based on extensive new research from around the world including thousands of new interviews with people on both sides of the battle. If Britain’s defenses collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of Europe. With France facing defeat and British forces pressed back to the Channel, there were few who believed Britain could survive; but, thanks to a sophisticated defensive system and the combined efforts of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy and the defiance of a new Prime Minister, Britain refused to give in. From clashes between coastal convoys and Schnellboote in the Channel to astonishing last stands in Flanders, slaughter by U-boats in an icy Atlantic and dramatic aerial battles over England, The Battle of Britain tells this epic story in a fresh and compelling voice.

About this title

Review:

"Holland is excellent on telling detail... This is a notable account of an epic human experience, told with the informality and enthusiasm that distinguish Holland's work... If the story is familiar, Holland tells it with authority and exuberant panache" (Max Hastings The Sunday Times)

"Holland is one of a new generation of historians who were born long after the war but who bring to the subject a freshness and proper spirit of enquiry. A great achievement" (John Sergeant Sunday Express)

"Excellent on all the technicalities of the conflict... full of lively pen portraits and unusual insights" (Spectator)

"Stuffed with personal accounts that drive the narrative along at a cracking pace" (Patrick Bishop Mail on Sunday)

"Ambitious and comprehensive... the pace never flags as the narrative ranges effortlessly from the cockpit of the Spitfire to the gallery of the House of Commons" (Saul David Daily Telegraph)

Book Description:

The ground-breaking and definitive account of the Battle of Britain from one of this country's most acclaimed young historians

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0312675003
• ISBN 13: 9780312675004
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 677