The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was not a particularly long campaign. In essence, it started on 10 July 1940 and after four main phases it ended (or to be more accurate, faded and evolved into a less distinctive battle), by the end of October that same year. 


Its origins lay in the devastating conquest of Western Europe by Germany in 1940. After overrunning Belgium and the Netherlands, on 14 June the Germans took control of Paris and, within two days, the French capitulated. Britain now stood alone. The Channel was all that lay between the south coast of England and the German forces massing on the coastline just 20 miles away. 


With the whole country fearing Britain would be next, on 18 June Churchill spoke to the nation via Parliament in a classic speech that left no one in any doubt as to the epoch-shaping seriousness of the situation.


With invasion threatened, the hour of destiny over British shores was at hand. This was conflict in the raw, a life-or-death struggle in which the terrors of 20th-century combat were brutally brought home to the nation’s doorsteps during what became known as the Blitz. Illustrated with archive photographs this superb book charts the Battle of Britain.