Through fascinating original interviews with the survivors of the battle on both sides, this book tells how Britain survived the rest of 1940 and inflicted on Hitler his first defeat. In the fierce fighting that took place in the skies over southern England, each pilot knew his chances of surviving were limited....My buddy Fred Stetson gave this to me for Christmas/2005. We both were helicopter pilots in the same unit at Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta, 1966-67. Fred knows how much I understand and cherish great military aviation books. This is one! Matthew Parker interviewed many Brits who were there at the moment when England could have perished under Nazi attack. Personal lives are revealed, as women and men begin to understand the dimensisons of their peril. This is not some glory boy tale of Spitfire pilots, but a day by day account of the terror all crews experienced during the days preceding the Blitz and during it. The Luftwaffe's mistakes are ruthlessly brought to light, and the endurance of the home forces detailed. The RAF has always been an awesome example for me of how to conduct your military affairs, and I still salute them as a former US Army aviator!