The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May-October 1940

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If Hitler fails to invade or destroy Britain, he has lost the war, Churchill said in the summer of 1940.He was right.The Battle of Britain was a crucial turning point in the history of the Second World War Had Britain s defences collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of Europe and been able to turn his full attention east to the Soviet Union.The German invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940 was unlike any the world had ever seen It hit with a force and aggression that no one could counter and in just a few short weeks, all in their way crumbled under the force of the Nazi hammer blow With France facing defeat and with British forces pressed back to the Channel, there were few who believed Britain could possibly survive.Soon, it seemed, Hitler would have all of Europe at his feet.Yet Hitler s forces were not quite the Goliath they at first seemed, while her leadership lacked the single minded purpose, vision and direction that had led to such success on land.Nor was Britain any David.Thanks to a sophisticated defensive system and the combined efforts of the RAF, Royal Navy as well as the mounting sense of collective defiance led by a new Prime Minister, Britain was not ready to roll over just yet.From clashes between coastal convoys and Schnellboote in the Channel to astonishing last stands in Flanders, and from the slaughter by the U boats in the icy Atlantic to the dramatic aerial battles over England, The Battle of Britain tells this most epic of stories from all sides, drawing on extensive new research from around the world In so doing, it paints a complete picture of that extraordinary summer a time in which the fate of the world truly hung by a thread. Free Read The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May-October 1940 by James Holland For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr James Holland is fast becoming one of my favorites of the new generation of World War II historians What he has written is not your usual Battle of Britain narrative Mr Holland tells acomplete story than your standard Battle of Britain history For one thing, he starts the story before the war even begins by looking at the relative strengths and weakness of the two opposing Air Forces He also explores the politics of rearmament and just why Britain was unprepared for war in 1939 40 James Holland is fast becoming one of my favorites of the new generation of World War II historians What he has written is not your usual Battle of Britain narrative Mr Holland tells acomplete story than your standard Battle of Britain history For one thing, he starts the story before the war even begins by looking at the relative strengths and weakness of the two opposing Air Forces He also explores the politics of rearmament and just why Britain was unprepared for war in 1939 40.Also, he starts the main narrative not with the evacuation of Dunkirk in June, but with Germany s assault on the Low Countries and France in May He gives a pretty good summary of the Battle of France and the retreat to Dunkirk and Churchill s attempts to keep France in the War He spends some time discussing just how Germany suckered France and Britain into advancing into Holland and allowing the Panzers to get behind them He also spends some time discussing why ...This book offers the reader a very enjoyable account of the five months between May and October 1940 when Germany invaded the Low Countries smashed France and chased the BEF back to England The book covers the fighting in France, the retreat back to Dunkirk and then the German operations against England in preparation for Sealion , the invasion of Britain The book just doesn t cover the aerial offensive but also the German naval operations that included t...A very populair history novel about the Battle of Britain James Holland mixes an overall account of the battle with personal stories from people who actually experienced it, from both sides For someone who is generally interested in history like me it s a very enjoyable read.I really enjoyed reading this book, James Holland does a brilliant job in encompassing all aspects of the Battle of Britain not just Fighter Command He details the role played by The Observer Corp, Bomber Command, the RN, the Home Guard, Radar and AA defence From the German perspective he goes on to explain the roles of the U boats and S boats and the workings of the German High Command.A significant portion of the book deals with the lead up to the Battle of Britain, the Battle of France is I really enjoyed reading this book, James Holland does a brilliant job in encompassing all aspects of the Battle of Britain not just Fighter Command He details the role played by The Observer Corp, Bomber Command, the RN, the Home Guard, Radar and AA defence From the German perspective he goes on to explain the roles of the U boats and S boats and the workings of the German High Command.A significant portion of the book deals with the lead up to the Battle of Britain, the Battle of France is well covered and the author is just as much at home talking about tank battles around the rolling countryside of Northern France as he is about the vicious air battles in the sky above Southern England.The only gripe I have with this book is the ...The funny thing about e readers is you can t tell how long the book is, or how much of it you have left, aside from the percentage listed on the bottom, which just isn t the same as the way the balance of a book changes based on how much you ve read versus how much you still have left to read So this book turned out to be longer than I had anticipated, but that was for the most part a good thing The author took the long view of what the Battle of Britain was, rather than just the aerial war The funny thing about e readers is you can t tell how long the book is, or how much of it you have left, aside from the percentage listed on the bottom, which just isn t the same as the way the balance of a book changes based on how much you ve read versus how much you still have left to read So this book turned out to be ...As someone who spent preschool mostly playing jet with arms outstretched and running around in circles chasing imaginary MiGs, I can t imagine a cooler gig than being a fighter pilot The fact is that after one of those end of the world college breakups, I actually called a recruiter and tried to sign up for the Air Force When I found out that there was no way in hell Uncle Sam would trust my eyesight with an expensive aircraft I turned to a life of pushing numbers around on a...This is the best WW2 book ive read Not only Holland takes a look into the major aspect of the operations, beginning with the fall of france, then dunkirk and later on the battle of britain itself, but he also goes deep into the personal level, having interviewed tons of german and british soldiers, pilots, civilians and etc The end was quite heartbreaking, with him reporting what happened to all the people he had focused on the ground during thes...This is a decent, accessible, popular history of the Battle of Britain It brings in the personal experiences and reflections of a handful of pilots, gunners, and seamen from both the British and German military Because I haven t read many books yet about the personal experiences of people serving in the German air force or navy, and none at all during the time of the Battle of Britain, those bits were of particular interest to me There were also some character sketches of various American, This is a decent, accessible, popular history of the Battle of Britain It brings in the personal experiences and reflections o...This book showed me how little I really knew about the Great War as my Grandad called it It is amazing how much the outcome of that war depended on mistakes made by the German forces and some very good luck on the side of the allies.It is not an easy read, but it is interesting I found it wasn t dry like many history books, I suggest reading it in chunks rather than trying to read the whole thing in one go It...Enjoyed reading both sides of the story I found myself re reading chapters and looking up people for whom I had never heard of It was also good to read how there were Germans who did not slavishly follow Hitler and the Nazis There was descent, but it also gave...

The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May-October 1940
  • English
  • 18 March 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 704 pages
  • 0593059131
  • James Holland
  • The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May-October 1940