The Battle of Britain

Back in 1969 a new motion picture was released that dramatically retold and illustrated in color the movie version of the Battle of Britain. Once again we are transported back to June, 1940, over the skies of Britain for the shootouts between the Reich and the RAF. One fact that emerges early in this book, that this movie came close to not being made at all! When it did finally make it to the screen, it came 3 years later than initially planned. I saw the picture then and as I sit here examining my DVD of this movie I agree with the DVD jacket claim of a "big stellar cast". But beyond stars such as Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Curt Jurgens, Ian McShane, Laurence Olivier, Robert Shaw, Michael Redgrave, Christopher Plummer, and Susannah York, among many others, is the footage that includes planes from the period. No mock up, no XF, the Spitfires and Heinkels, Messerschmitts, et.al., are the real thing. The producer/director scoured the world for real, actual planes of the time. Never again will that happen, what you see flying in this film are the real, true planes of that period. This book under discussion is the official book of the movie and includes not only Mr. Mosley's recall of the 'nuts and bolts' of the production but also includes some still pictures from the movie. To my knowledge, the only hardcover edition of "The Battle of Britain" is that done by Mr. Mosley for Time-Life books as a volume in their WWII series. I have a copy of that narrative-picture book, too. Having hardcover books on my shelf also such as ON BORROWED TIME, BACKS TO THE WALL, THE DRUID, HIROHITO, and a biography of Hermann Goering, I can think no one better suited than Leonard Mosley to tell this story of both movie and battle. At this late date not many of these paperback books are available, but since Ballantine was publishing quite a few things concerning WWII during the late 1960's, copies from dealers can still be obtained. If you have seen the movie and wish for additional detail, then this paperback can both entertain and enlighten. Having both the DVD and paperback, can recommend either or both. Semper Fi.

I had to read this book for a book report and a powerpoint presentation. It was really easy to read and in between chapters there were lots of pictures and captions to bring it to life almost. I could not say that I enjoyed reading about such an awful event but the book made it easier for me to understand a lot better what it was all about.