Fighter

Penguin Modern Classics

By: Len Deighton

Narrated by: John Sackville

Brought to you by Penguin

History is swamped by patriotic myths about the aerial combat fought between the RAF and the Luftwaffe over the summer of 1940. In his gripping history of the Battle of Britain, Len Deighton drew on a decade of research and his own wartime experiences to puncture these myths and point towards a more objective, and even more inspiring, truth.

'The most honest attempt yet to tell how the Battle of Britain really was' Andrew Wilson, Observer

'Revolutionised thinking about the Battle of Britain in a way that has not been seriously challenged since' The Times

© Len Deighton 1977 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critic reviews

Revolutionised thinking about the Battle of Britain in a way that has not been seriously challenged since. (Robert Dawson Scott)

Must surely rank as the most honest attempt yet to tell how the Battle of Britain really was. (Andrew Wilson)

The research was so meticulous that his conclusions, chiefly that the Few were very brave but their leaders were daft, could not easily be set aside. Indeed, they are now part of the orthodoxy.

The best, most dispassionate story of the battle I have read and I say that even though the book destroyed many of my illusions and, indeed, attacks the validity of some of what I wrote as an eyewitness. (Drew Middleton)

[We learn] that British anti-aircraft fire was ineffective, that some R.A.F. ground personnel fled under fire, that the Admiralty provoked costly skirmishes ...The book resounds with exploded myths. (Leonard Bushkoff)

Deighton has shown himself to be the most protean of British best-sellers. (John Sutherland)

Enjoyable and interesting

LD always weaves an interesting tale and this nonfiction work is no exception. He also gives us some insights into the influential personalities such as Milch, Dowding, the unpleasant Leigh Mallory and Goring. Recommended!