The front cover claims the Battle of Britain as the "first victory" but, of course, this conveniently ignores the Battle of the River Plate in 1939. The blurb on the back cover is written by someone who subscribes to the RAF version of war history, one that centres on the Royal Air Force as if that service won the war on its own. That the blurb ends with "... reveals the truth behind the Battle of Britain" certainly brings new meaning to the word 'truth'!

Sure, in 1940, Britain "stood alone". Sure, the Royal Navy was "stretched worldwide", albeit rather less so in the Pacific, of course, but it was not impotent, it was not failing and the Navy was doing its job. "Only the English Channel and the RAF remained between Britain and the expected German invasion ..." is true but it would have been honest to say that some 1,000 ships and submarines were in Home Waters, the Royal Navy protecting our islands as it has always done. Hitler's invasion flotilla, building up on the coast of mainland Europe, would have never made it across the English Channel - invasion was a highly ambitious project but one that was doomed to failure while the Royal Navy had 'command of the Narrow Seas', command of the Channel. That command of the seas around our islands was never lost. The Battle of Britain was not, as is claimed. "Britain's most vital victory" but it certainly did play an important part in fending off the threat of invasion through its fight against the Luftwaffe. Arguably, the most vital victory was the Battle of the Atlantic, the bringing of food, goods, fighting men and war supplies from the Americas, and the subsequent defeat of the U-Boat - without this relentless fight, every day during nearly six years of war, Britain would have been unfit to fight.

What is undeniable is the bravery and the success of 'The Few' during the long summer of 1940. The first twelve months of the war had been a dark and miserable period, with little to cheer about, and the nation's morale was given a real boost by the seeing off of the Luftwaffe over the skies of southern England and the English Channel. Churchill rather overplayed his words about the Battle of Britain but he was right to do so, as a victory of any sort was essential to improve morale and, thus, to continue the fight against Nazi Germany. The Royal Air Force has, of course, lived off Churchill's words ever since and marks the Battle of Britain every year on 15 September. .

The Royal Navy had been engaged in the fight against Germany since Sunday 3 September 1939; what was to become known as the Battle of the Atlantic took place every day of the war from the very first day to VE Day. The so-called Phoney War was only phoney for those at home and for much of the RAF and, of course, the Army was indeed exhausted and defeated - hence Dunkirk.

The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm is mentioned just once in the whole book, providing pilots, as John Ray mentions. The reader is never told that two Naval Air Squadrons were given over fully to Fighter Command - 804 Naval Air Squadron and 808 NAS but both are rightly recorded on the Battle of Britain memorial on the Embankment in London (these two squadrons are not even mentioned in the index of squadrons). British military aviation history is not safe in the hands of those in thrall to the RAF for, all too often, naval aviation goes unmentioned, its very existence being seen as an affront to the RAF - even today, in 2019, the Royal Air Force only operates 80% of Britain's military aircraft (the rest being in the hands of the RN's Fleet Air Arm and the Army Air Corps). ( )

This is a reassessment of how RAF fighters defeated the German Luftwaffe in 1940 and saved Britain from invasion. This book examines significant elements of the battle, including personality clashes in the RAF, opposing policies in the Air Ministry, and the controversial treatment of Hugh Dowding. The author examines how Dowding commanded his squadrons, and how every day he was under personal attack from rivals for his position, and from enemies in the Air Ministry who espoused different defensive measures, despite the severity of the attack and the manifest success of Dowding's methods.

Drawing on many first-hand accounts, a plethora of documents as well as the most significant Histories of WW2 and especially the Air War to the end of 1941 this is a masterly account of the Battle of Britain. It covers the technical issues surrounding the Air Forces of Britain and Germany as well as logistical analysis behind the various tactics employed by both sides. Unlike so many more recent War Histories John Ray manages to avoid the fault-line of gifted hindsight, i.e. he writes of events from the point of those who DID NOT KNOW THE OUTCOME as the fate of isolated Britain and liberal-Democracy was in the balance. There is almost no revisionist suggestions of what could have been done differently. Ray places a careful deployment of the issues as seen and experienced by those who made the policy and active decisions at the most dangerous time in modern British military affairs - unaware of any 'victory' - only aware of the RAF trapped in an unceasing Battle for Air supremacy they dared to press on with even as the U.S. Ambassador (J. Kennedy) and others were writing-off the British Isles and People. Excellent resource book. ( )

Some interesting insights into the internal politics of the RAF, some of the top personalities behind the scenes, and the strategies. This book concentrates on those, rather than on the populist accounts of the more exciting air battles and fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain. ( )