Penguin Classic Military History S.
2 total works
This account of the Battle of Britain explains how both sides developed their air forces in the inter-war years and provides descriptions of the air fighting and insights into the controversies of the time. The authors make use of original material derived from interviews and correspondence with over 300 surviving air-crew and ground staff as well as benefitting from support from the Battle of Britain Fighter Association, the Imperial War Museum and the RAF museum. Richards has also written "Royal Air Force 1939-45" and "An Illustrated History of Modern Europe". Hough has previously written "The Longest Battle: the War at Sea 1939-45" and is the official biographer for the Mountbatten family.
The work of the RAF bomber command has come under fire from a whole generation of historians since the 1960s. They claim that the RAF offensive against Germany was immoral because so many civilians were killed, and wasteful because so many attacks were not on specific military targets. In this book, Denis Richards, co-author of the official history of the RAF 1939-1945, describes the difficulties and failures, but redresses the balance by making clear the magnitude of Bomber Command's achievements. His account provides a revised interpretation of the battle fought virtually every night for almost five and a half years, in which over half the aircrew became casualties. Truly, it was "the hardest victory".