Customer Reviews

Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain

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This is the most valuable summary in print of the RAF's challenge to Germany's invasion plans for the British Isles. Beginning by describing how 'history is swamped by patriotic myths about the summer of 1940', Deighton invalidates any theories of heroes versus villains in this account. The Nazi war machine swept across Western Europe in a stunning series of victories. Only the English Channel and the RAF remained as the final barriers to invasion. It was the Luftwaffe's burden to remove the second obstacle leaving the first to be crossed with minimal opposition. Deighton's excellent account shows how close the Luftwaffe came to success. In fact, credit for the RAF's accomplishment may well come to rest on the shoulders of one man, Hugh Dowding.

Deighton takes us through the background of weapons development, from radar to the tracer bullet, explaining how the two sides were closely matched in technology. The long-standing dispute over whether the Bf109 or the Spitfire was superior rests only on how far the pilots were prepared to push their aircraft. The number of pilots in opposition are another matter. For every active RAF pilot, the Germans had four fighter pilots or bomber crews, ranging from central France to the Norwegian coast.. Deighton explains how Dowding husbanded his resources, enabling him to keep sending aircraft against the bomber fleets. All logic suggested the RAF should have been destroyed, but Dowding's strategy and pilot skill resulted in postponement of the German invasion.

Deighton brings clarity to this complex period by breaking the story into four main themes. Keeping the daily events of the battle until last, his prepatory chapters show vividly what the pilots faced and what factors led to victory or defeat. Readers of his fiction know how well he presents characters. This historical account also displays that talent admirably. Commanders, pilots, ground forces all come to life in his depiction. There are both good and bad at all levels and he pulls no punches in discussing them all.

To those who feel Fighter is simply 'military history', it must be stressed that the Summer of 1940 was a magnificent expression of human endeavour. Pilot and crew bravery, tenacity in striving for goals on both sides is presented with Deighton's fine prose. Deighton shows that today's world would be drastically different had the Luftwaffe succeeded in its attempt to clear the way for an invasion. This book is a choice selection for an understanding of what the Battle of Britain was all about.

This book is as an admirable example of the good old rule in journalism: "Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable."

It's fitting. Much of the victory credit belongs to a Canadian newspaper publisher in England, Lord Beaverbrook. As Minister of Aircraft Production, he provided so many aircraft that the Royal Air Force ended the Battle of Britain with more aircraft than when it started. For both sides, the crucial elements were production and tactics -- German aircraft production didn't peak until 1944. As for tactics, the entire German war effort was based on "lightning victories" such as the defeat of Poland and France. The British relied on their old standby of being able to outlast any enemy.

Granted, everyone "knows" about the Battle of Britain. Deighton challenges the comfortable old myths about the war, and points out that a lot of "what we know" just isn't so. The Germans deny there ever was a "Battle of Britain;" later in the war, they'd lose more aircraft in a single day of combat than during the entire August-September 1940 campaign against England. The British victory is hailed as equal to the defeat of the Spanish Armada and Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, a myth Deighton neatly punctures.

A major element is the incredible blunders and mistakes by Germans and British. War is truly a case of victory going to whoever makes the least mistakes. These range from strategic and production decisions made in the mid-1930s, to Adolph Hitler's fatal hubris in the summer of 1940 that "the British have lost the war, but they don't know it; one must give them time, and they will come around." Hitler only understood lightning victories; the British relied on being able to outlast their enemies.

Without going into technical detail that would swamp the average reader, Deighton masterfully explains why choices such as a lighter breech-block on the Oerlikon MG FF was a handicap for German pilots, as was the British decision to use nitro-cordite ammunition after everyone else switched to nitro-cellulose. Such details, explained in clear and concise form, are the treasure of this book.

Add them up, and it becomes clear why Germany could not win World War II. The British, for all their stupidity, had a democratic system in which errors could be corrected. Germany had a dynamic leader, and the military knew it was better to procrastinate than to suggest corrections to his decisions.

In short, from the Battle of Britain to VE-Day, Churchill spent the war being sometimes wrong and often being corrected. Hitler spent the same time being sometimes right, without his errors ever being corrected. That may not seem like much, except this book ties it all together to clearly illustrate the inevitable outcome of democracy versus a closed society.

Deighton has done a masterful job. He explains the "when, where, who, when and how" of the Battle of Britain as do most histories. Most important, he explains "why" it was won. Those six words are the "six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew)" of Rudyard Kipling and all journalism, which Deighton employs as a master.

Better than the "Coffee table books" that sing adoring praises of the Spitfire and Hurricane pilots, this book better reflects the thoughts and minds of both sides on a moment-by-moment basis than any other so called "analysis" work. With interviews and photos from both sides, this book captures the daily life of a RAF or Luftwaffe pilot and gives a better story about the 'Big Picture' than anywhere else. The hand drawn cartoons by the luftwaffe pilots are worth the price of the book alone.

Deighton presents the results of modern scholarship (refuting the Churchill/Coventry myth, etc) in a fascinating way. His greatest strength is his discussion of technology, which is slighted by too many historians (who consider technology and science beneath them). A pleasure to read.

This book is probably one of the best air history books you will find. It covers a specific battle, the Battle of Britain, one of the greatest air battles of all time. And it covers all aspects of the battle extensively--the machines, the men who flew them, the other inventions that figured in the battle, such as radar, the tactics employed by both sides, and much more. Some reviewers have called it too technical. Not if what you want is a thorough study of a battle from every angle. I found it fascinating and exciting reading.
If you are interested in aerial warfare, this book will satisfy you completely.

This is a very enlightening and easy to understand book on the history the RAF and the Luftwaffe in the time period between the end of WWI and the Battle of Britain. The book describes and compares the tactics, weapons and philosophies of both sides and also provides interesting biographies of the major players of the air war. The detailed descriptions and development histories of the various planes were very interesting and the numerous maps and diagrams help to make the text very understandable. There are many myths, such as the belief that the Germans did not have radar, that are dispelled in this excellent book. This was the first work by Len Deighton that I have read and upon completion I immediately bought Blitzkrieg and Blood Tears and Folly by the same author.

Len Deighton produces some of the most enjoyable non-fiction books on World War II that I have read. His experience as a fiction writer gives him the skill that so many historians lack, tha ability to tell a story. The Battle of Britain is a perfect combination of politics, men, technology and tactics.

It was not an easy read because it read pretty dry but proved very informative. Important to note are Deighton's revelations regarding Leigh-Mallory and Dowding and how the latter's unheralded efforts were in a large part the reason for British victory. Every air conflict is covered and the data supplied is superb.

The book describes and compares the tactics, weapons and philosophies of both sides and also provides interesting biographies of the major players of the air war. The detailed descriptions and development histories of the various planes were very interesting and the numerous maps and diagrams help to make the text very understandable. There are many myths, such as the belief that the Germans did not have radar, that are dispelled in this excellent book.

What images come to mind when you think about the Battle of Britain? Maybe you can recall seeing the widely published photographs that are referred to in the book - 'pilots petting their dogs, playing cards or relaxing in deck chairs on neatly trimmed grass' or demonstrating with their hands how they shot down another plane from behind, (like school boys - you can almost hear them going 'ratta tatta tat', firing their imaginary guns). This image, of a great adventure in a romantic era is strengthend when you read about the exploits of the British 'aces' or the German 'experten' and when you realize that there were German pilots that were honourable and brave enough to return to base with unused bombs because they couldn't find a military target to drop them on. How poignant is the following description from the book about the loss of one of these pilots. 'He parachuted down into the wintry waters of the Channel while his men circled, unable to save him' "It was as if a curtain went down and the play ended"' said one of the watching pilots. The events that took place in the blue skies over southern England in the summer of 1940 were indeed, as Deighton says, the last romantic war.

The author however makes it very clear from the start that a lot of what comes to mind when we think about the Battle of Britain is a very deliberate effort to create a 'David versus Goliath' myth. For example, Churchill relied on rhetoric to reinforce in the minds of the British public, the great victory that had been achieved. He also had the US in mind when he spoke, because he knew that people there had now started to believe that with help, Britain might make it. It shouldn't be a surprise to realize that the day of the largest air battle over central London (September 15th) which was therefore witnessed by the most people, quickly became the day celebrated as Battle of Britain day. It shouldn't be a surprise either to learn that this was the day of the largest RAF combat victory claim - 185 German planes shot down! The postwar figure was revised downward to a truer total, 56. Britain was as adept as Germany in using war time propaganda.

Political infighting and backstabbing was as common as the air battles and almost as deadly. Politicians, Military men and civilians, both German and British, all had axes to grind. Ernhard Milch, Gorings Deputy hated Willy Messerschmitt and tried to ruin him. Messerschmitt in turn had no use for another aircraft designer - Ernest Heinkel. Churchill didn't care much for his Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding. Perhaps the bitterest rivalry is the one pitting Trafford Leigh-Mallory (a deputy of Dowding) and Squadron Leader Douglas Bader (the legless ace) against Dowding and another of his deputies Keith Park. The outcome of this battle was embarassment and humilitiation, loss of jobs and ruined careers for Dowding and Park. Treatment from their own worse than anything the enemy did.

Offcourse the book is about more than myths and the historical persons involved, it is principally about the planes and more specifically the Hurricane, Spitfire and Messerscmitt Bf109. The development of the airframes, engines, armament and supporting technologies such as radar are all interestingly laid out in detail. Deighton also has creatively split the air battles into four phases each with a different tactic being employed by the Germans or different strategic objectives in mind. This is helpful as it leads to a question asked in the book - What was the German plan for the Battle of Britain? It is difficult to answer this looking at the changing tactics, goals and targets. The answer may lie with the perspective you take. Indeed this brings up the most startling revelation in the whole book. Germany and Germans, even 'til today, do not recognise any event called the Battle of Britain. We are therefore right back to where we began - What images come to mind when you think about the Battle of Britain? For Germans it's simply a myth.