Finest Hour
The bestselling story of the Battle of Britain
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
'The book that made me think, 'yes, this is the way to write history,' was Finest Hour by Phil Craig and Tim Clayton.' - James Holland
In 1940, Europe lay at Hitler's feet. Britain faced its darkest hour - outnumbered and friendless as the German army continued its advance. Defeat or capitulation seemed inevitable.
Taking its readers on a breathtaking journey from open lifeboats in Atlantic gales to the cockpits of burning fighter-planes, and through cities devastated by the Blitz, FINEST HOUR recreates the terror, the tragedy and the triumph of the Battle of Britain.
This powerful account of the events of 1940 is told through the voices, diaries, letters and memoirs of the men and women who lived, loved, fought and died during this terrible yet inspiring year.
Blending original historical research with the experiences of ordinary people in desperate time, FINEST HOUR cuts through the nostalgic haze, and enables readers to experience a time when a nations' darkest hour became its finest.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While related to a PBS documentary to appear on July 10 and 17, this chronicle of one of England's darkest hours manages to stand on its own, albeit with gaps. Its focus is the summer and fall of 1940, when France collapsed, America remained neutral and Britain stood alone. Aside from a slight American accent, the prevailing voice is British; continental perspectives, including German, are conspicuously absent. Clayton, a senior research fellow at Oxford's Worchester College, and Craig, the PBS show's producer, have drawn on the experiences of a hundred or so people who were there. About two dozen of the interview subjects are what might be called "featured players": soldiers, sailors, pilots and a few civilians whose stories recur and help hold the work together. Their comments seem to have been edited honestly--smoothed out rather than distorted to fit editorial needs or preconceptions. One result is a certain loss of spontaneity, but another is that the text paradoxically fits the "stiff upper lip" tradition perfectly. If not all the brethren were consistently valiant, the stories still come together in a master narrative of making do, muddling through and eventually seeing Hitler off. In an age all too inclined to discount such sentiment, it is good to be reminded that the British people in 1940 did see the war as worth fighting--and fighting at all costs.
