Not sure whether you've gotten to the part yet where he downs a Ju88 describes the mess the crew had in getting out after crash landing and how shot up they were and then visiting them in the hospital. A very special moment.

are any of the books mentioned through these pages available on the amazon kindle ?

This is great stuff all... I might just have to get...... all of them! When time/money allows, of course!


I will put in another vote for Stephen Bungay's book. Very thorough - although I admit I do not have too much to compare with. I recall it being different in content than Fighter Boys, and so they complement each other. I do have to say that I found Bungay to be cynical and arrogant to the point of rudeness, callousness and insult in points. I recall one part where he had just presented the enthusiasm of a young german pilot through a letter/diary, and summarily said he needn't have worried about the Luftwaffe "winning" so much since he died a couple of days later. I personally don't think hindsight gives you the right to be "smug" about these deaths, but your mileage may vary.

I recently read Michael Korda's "With Wings Like Eagles" and found it very shallow, repetitive, overly pretentious/grandiloquent with gigantic convoluted sentences - making it a somewhat good read for an overview. I tend to get lost when books go too deep into detail at each point. This one lets you keep the overview.

I also read "A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron" by Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud. It's a strange book - the first half is about the Polish airforce and the Kosciuszko Squadron in particular, about the attack on Poland, the pilots' adventure to England, subsequent training and eventually being allowed into combat, becoming the highest scoring squadron for the BoB. The other half is about the history of Poland, before and during the war - hence not about flying at all, except occasional glimpses of the pilots' reaction to different events. It is very, very clear that the authors are quite biased, and that the book is not objective. Sometimes I felt it so strongly that I even had doubts about the veracity of some claims, but do not know enough to ascertain it myself. That being said, I will not hesitate to recommend this to anyone - it provides an amazing view of international politics as they regarded Poland, and of the horrors that the Polish people was forced to endure at the hands of Axis and Allies alike. I was in tears through most of it, but I'm a big cry-baby. It is a story that should not be forgotten. I would also be extremely interested in hearing other opinions on this book.

Thanks for all the great recommendations :)

I thoroughly enjoyed the book as well but couldn't help feel that he had trouble staying impartial. The example above was the first time it hit me. He also couldn't stay neutral with his opinions on Galland and Wick either. I recall he also said German's had no moral courage etc. Which is generalising and not taking all the facts into account. It's bad when you notice a bias as you wonder if it has affected the way he is presenting the facts.

I'm half British half German so my bias swings back and forth. :-D

Thanks for the recommendation, it's available at The Works for £6! Have ordered a copy.

https://www.theworks.co.uk/product.asp?cid=11&pid=6230

£6!

Well worth it, if only for the Giant map!

yes iam currently reading first light on my kindle app for my phone. pretty much all of amazons books are available on kindle

Halfway through reading this, seems an excellent read


and i am reading it on the Kindle :)

"The Few" by Alex Kershaw is a great book :cool:

Bungay is a dick, period.