Spitfire: A Very British Love Story

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I would've wished more some sort of technical analysis or something more tangible than "everyone loved the plane, it was easy to fly". There were some parts where the plane and it's variants were compared to German ME109(variants) and FW190, but I would've liked more and especially to other allied aircraft. If you are an aviation enthusiast we will have something that you would love to add to your collection. It is very special to own a book, knowing that the author or subject once held the very same copy as he signed it for a friend, a relative or perhaps just for a stranger at a bookshop or airshow. Your Choice Bestselling author John Nichol’s passionate portrait of this magnificent fighter aircraft, its many innovations and updates, and the people who flew and loved them, carries the reader beyond the dogfights over Kent and Sussex. Spanning the full global reach of the Spitfire’s deployment during WWII, from Malta to North Africa and the Far East, then over the D-Day beaches, it is always accessible, effortlessly entertaining and full of extraordinary spirit. This book was so well written that it was the first time I really understood the various movements of the war. Perhaps I needed a bird’s-eye view to see it all more clearly; although maybe I should say a Spitfire’s view.

The iconic Spitfire found fame during the darkest early days of World War II. But what happened to the redoubtable fighter and its crews beyond the Battle of Britain, and why is it still so loved today? The Spitfire was a thing of beauty to behold, in the air or on the ground, with graceful lines of its slim fuselage it elliptical wing and tail plane. It look like a fighter and it certainly proved to be just that in the fullest meaning of the term. It was a aircraft with a personality of its own-docile at times, swift and deadly at others-a fighting machine par excellence."(p.376)I would have given, wanted to give, 5 stars, however, the inclusion of the sentence regarding the stray dog stopped me. Whilst pertinent to the character of the individual, I felt it could have been omitted hence why not the full 5. It helps perhaps that author John Nichol was one of the Tornado pilots shot down over Iraq in the first Gulf War and paraded before the world’s media. He can therefore empathise closely with his fellow pilots, and understand their very mixed emotions. This means the book avoids being gung ho or jingoistic. There is no little Englander nonsense. It is a very quiet tribute to ordinary people forced by circumstances into undertaking extraordinary acts, helped by an extraordinary aircraft. Nichol is also a very skilled writer, giving a real sense of engagement, building tension and excitement when required, but also sensitive where appropriate. As the RAF marks its centenary, Nichol has created a thrilling and often moving tribute to some of its greatest heroes' Mail on Sunday magazine Accompanying those love stories however, are the paragraphs of the real cost of war and the toll it takes on its participants. While Sptifire is a love story that glorifies the namesake aircraft, it does not do that at the cost of romanticizing the glory of warfare. Nichol did an outstanding job highlighting the mental and physical tolls taken on the pilots and how it effected them for years to follow. At several points the text specifically mentions “shedding the boyish idea of the glory of war” as the aviators became men. Just yet another fantastic element in an already fantastic book. The story starts with the initial design deriving from racing seaplanes in the 30s, through production difficulties in West Bromwich. With the outbreak of war, spitfires see service over Dunkirk, of course in the Battle of Britain but then in Malta, North Africa, over Occupied Europe, in Malaya, and even as part of the Soviet Air Force.

It didn’t take long to fall in love with the Spitfire. Pilots, mechanics, land girls, civvies – they all fell under her spell.’ A rich and heartfelt tribute to this most iconic British machine’ Rowland White, bestselling author of Vulcan 607What is it about the Spitfire? …Why, over eighty years after she first flew, is the Spitfire regarded as the very symbol of Britishness; … Why is this particular aircraft loved so much? It intrigued me that the Air Transport Auxiliary had both women and men pilots. Women fought for and received equal pay with the male pilots – most likely the first instance in the 20th Century where equal pay at work occurred between women and men. Wonderful book for a beautiful plane. I did not know it went through so many upgrades and changes as the Luftwaffe planes improved. I did not recall the long fights for Malta, or the disaster at Dieppe. For many British people of a certain age, the Spitfire has the status of a national icon, although I think that’s less the case for younger people. The other main Battle of Britain fighter plane, the Hawker Hurricane, has nothing like the allure of the Spitfire. Early in the book the author poses the question: