Looking for a good Battle of Britain-book

[Jim Oxley]

Another book that I would strongly recommend be on everyone's shelf is "The Battle Of Britain-New Perspectives", by John Ray.

This book deals with the behind the scenes of Fighter Command, and is a real eye opener to the people who were involved at the command level. Covers in great depth how well/or not Fighter Command fought the battle, the Big Wing controversary, and the (at times) vicious in-fighting that was going on in the halls of the Air Ministry whilst the battle was being fought in the skies over south east Britain.

An extremely balanced and thoughtful presentation.

[Ruy Horta]

Originally Posted by Jim Oxley

Another book that I would strongly recommend be on everyone's shelf is "The Battle Of Britain-New Perspectives", by John Ray.

Just to clear up matters, but is that the same book as:

The Battle of Britain
Dowding and the First Victory, 1940
John Ray

Sounds like it is. Might be that this is the name given to the paparback I bought published by Cassell, and your's is the original Arms&Armour title?

Your description sounds more or less the same.

I'll throw in my 2c., certainly not the best Battle of Britain book (can't help it but I still love the Mason book), but one that is very interesting for its difference:

Who Won the Battle of Britain
H.R. Allen

Don't expect the author to write about a German victory, but his analysis is different, sometimes rightly so, sometimes only with hindsight.

Personally I found the Battle of Britain introduction by Prien and his fellow writers to be briliant in their Die Jagdverbände... 4/I & II, especially their statistical conclusions with regard to the picture we've build based on previous (autobiographical) work and movies.

[robert_schulte]

Thanks for these new suggestions, will enter them in my list! Still being fixed on "Battle of Britain, Then and Now", are there major differences in the various editions? I could get a copy of 1982 relatively cheap, but what if the edition of let's say 1989 is much better?

[Jim Oxley]

Although not a book, I would recommend to anyone interested in the Battle Of Britain that they peruse the 'Battle Of Britain's Historical Society's ' website at
http://www.battleofbritain.net/contents-index.html

The amiount of information available is enormous. And having many original documents to read through really does provide the reader with exactly the flavour of those years.


As a side not to all the above books it is interesting to note that almost all authors - especially English - consider the Battle to have officially finished in late September/early October with the cessation of massed daylight raids. The Germans however did not consider the Battle Of Britain to have finished until mid 1941, with the end of major night raids.

An interesting difference in points of view. And it should be noted that more people died in night raids than in daylight raids.

[Tony Williams]

Thanks for the summaries, guys. I've been thinking about getting Bungay's book as I saw him being interviewed on a BoB TV programme and was favourably impressed.

If you want a summary of the armament issues of the planes, then this article on my website might be of interest:

http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/BoB.htm

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum

[John Vasco]

Originally Posted by Jim Oxley

Although not a book, I would recommend to anyone interested in the Battle Of Britain that they peruse the 'Battle Of Britain's Historical Society's ' website at
http://www.battleofbritain.net/contents-index.html

The amiount of information available is enormous.

Treat what it says with great care. I looked up my favourite Luftwaffe aircraft details, and this is what it said: "...hand picked elite aircrew, the Bf110 was to prove no match for the Hurricane or Spitfire and soon started to succumb heavy losses. Soon, Bf110 formations were to be escorted themselves by Gruppes of Bf109s and even though the elite Erprobungsgruppe 210 had many major successes, the Bf110 which started out as a fighter escort was relegated to the role of just a fighter bomber after the Battle of Britain..."
Right. Hand-picked elite aircrew? Whoever wrote this has been looking in books written decades ago! Bf 110 crews were NOT 'hand-picked', not even Erprobungsgruppe 210 (always good for being a hand-picked elite bunch - NOT). Bf 110 formations were to be escorted themselves by Gruppes (sic) of Bf 109s. FFS, they weren't!!! There is not a single shread of evidence that shows Bf 110 pure fighter formations were escorted by Bf 109 units on flights to England. The only Bf 110 unit to receive fighter escort on occasions was Erprobungsgruppe 210, as they were undertaking fighter-bomber duties, and the paramount need was to get them to their target. Again, the person writing this is perpetuating a myth that has been believed for decades. When are people going to wake up and read modern, informed books that provide correct information, instead of regurgitating information that quite frankly is crap! Relegated to the role of just a fighter-bomber after the Battle of Britain. Go tell that to all the Aufklärungsgruppen aircrew that flew and died well beyond the Battle of Britain period, to the III./ZG 26 crews who flew fighter escort missions in the African Theatre, the JG 5 crews up on the northern Russian front, and ZG 1 flying Bf 110 G-2s in Reich Defence in 1943/44. Oh yes, and all the night fighter crews flying Bf 110s as well! What this person has written is totally misleading, but comes under the umbrella of what appears to be an official society. In fact, it is staggering in its incompetence. God help us if this is what people are reading and being educated in concerning the Battle of Britain and beyond.

I haven't gone over anything else on that site; what little I have read has switched me off already.

Tony, If you only ever get one more book on the Battle of Britain, it has to be Stephen Bungay's. Quite simply the best analytical book you will read on the period.


John Vasco

[Jim Oxley]

To be sure you will find incorrect facts and inconsistencies. Nevertheless it does have much to offer, and it is well worth perusing.

[fsbofk]

The 1982 edition of "The Battle of Britain - Then and Now" (referred to as the "Mk II" edition by the publisher, After the Battle) is the one I bought in 1983. As later editions were published, ATB issued supplementary booklets that included the revised Preface or Postscript portions of the book; I have the supplements to the Mk III and Mk V editions. You could contact ATB to see if they still offer the supplements for the editions which followed Mk II (they still publish the excellent "After the Battle - Then and Now" magazine). TBoBT&N is a valuable complement to any narrative history of the BoB, IMO.