With Wings Like Eagles: The Untold Story of the Battle of Britain

By Michael Korda

Book Overview

"Bold and refreshing... Korda writes with great elegance and flair." --Wall Street Journal

Michael Korda's brilliant work of history takes the reader
back to the summer of 1940, when fewer than three thousand young fighter pilots
of the Royal Air Force--often no more than nine hundred on any given day--stood between
Hitler and the victory that seemed almost within his grasp.
Korda recreates the intensity of combat in the "long,
delirious, burning blue" of the sky above southern England and, perhaps, for
the first time, traces the entire complex web of political, diplomatic,
scientific, industrial, and human decisions that led inexorably to the world's
first, greatest, and most decisive air battle.

Winston Churchill memorable said about the Battle of
Britain, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to
so few." Here is the story of "the few," and how they prevailed against the
odds, deprived Hitler of victory, and saved the world during three epic months
in 1940.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061125369
• ISBN13: 9780061125362
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A good popular accounting

This is a good, competent retelling of the salient events of the Battle, particularly from the British side. A Duel Of Eagles by Peter Townsend remains the best book on the subject from both the British and the German sides, especially from the flyers' perspectives.

Another Perspective on the Battle of Britain

The cover of the book says "The untold story of the Battle of Britain" and this gem of a book proves to be the case. Having read a number of previous works on the campaign, I wasn't sure what new revelations Mr Korda would provide. His book is a wealth of information on the pereceptive actions of much maligned politicians before the war, of the bitter 'in fighting' between senior air force officers (on both sides) and a thoughtful assessment of the British strategy to delay the German invasion in 1940. The book is a terrific testament to two of the lesser known heroes of the battle; Keith Park and Hugh Dowding and both are given the praise that was denied them for so long. However, they are also shown to have their own faults and this book offers valuable insights on the issues that affected certain decisions. There are some great descriptive passages and the footnotes (which sometimes serve to distract) provide snippets of detail that reflect the depth of research. Overall a cracking read and a fitting testament not only to 'the few' but to all of those who played their part in this part of history. The reference to the WAAFs, groundcrew, engineers and tradesmen who made the aircraft, and the stoic public that endured the ever mounting casualties remind us of the sacrifice made by so many.

WITH WINGS LIKE EAGLES

In my opinion one of the best books on the Battle of Britain.Wellresearched and well written

"With Wings Like Eagles" Soars!

Michael Korda's historical analysis of the Battle of Britain is a superbly researched, well argued and charismatically written account of one of history's most important battles. Korda is a former RAF pilot from the 1950s and he refreshingly abandons dry objectivity by using the pronouns "our" and "us" when referring to Battle of Britain England and the RAF. Korda provides a big picture strategic overview, convincingly demonstrating that "appeaser" Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain in fact laid the technical foundations that enabled the RAF to triumph over the Luftwaffe. Rejecting the orthodoxy that decreed the bomber must be the main focus of the RAF, these PMs endorsed building a large and modern fighter force. Hugh Dowding, the Chief of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain fought the bureaucracy to 1) obtain modern monoplane fighters such as the Spitfire and Hurricane, 2) arm them with 8 .303 guns each, 3) install armored windscreens, 4) sink communication telephone lines inside concrete sheathed underground tubes 5) create a radically modern command center, staffed by women flight controllers and using huge topographical maps with real time depictions of German and RAF fighter and bomber streams and squadron readiness updates. 6) install radar arrays on the coast to map German air formations and provide early warning to the RAF. Korda reveals that Dowding resisted committing the RAF to mass battles and instead chose a form of "aerial guerilla warfare" (my phrase) whereby the RAF would send up small squadrons to pinprick the Luftwaffe bomber streams and attrit them over time. Along with discussions of grand strategy, Korda furnishes worm's eye details such as the red tape affixed over Hurricane and Spitfire gun barrels to prevent entry of moisture that would freeze at altitude. Korda also examines the politics of the Battle, including Churchill's foolish desire to send an extra 10 Hurricane squadrons to France. Dowding successfully resisted this deployment which would have fatally reduced the RAF's minimum force level for protecting Britain. This is a fantastic work: educational, inspiring and persuasive. I hope Mr. Korda tackles the SOE next!

Terrific read

Terrific read, plus quick fair overviews of several issues that are complex to this day.