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The Cooler King By Patrick Bishop By Patrick Bishop (paperback) 9781782390251

Patrick Bishop Collection 2 Books Set (bomber Boys, Fighter Boys) Paperback New

Patrick Bishop Air Force Blue (tascabile)

Patrick Bishop The Cooler King (tascabile)

Patrick Bishop Animal Kingdom (tascabile)

Patrick Bishop Amazing Planets (copertina Rigida)

Patrick Bishop Wings (tascabile)

Patrick Bishop Fighter Boys (tascabile)

Operation Jubilee 9780241985991 Patrick Bishop - Free Tracked Delivery

Patrick Bishop Animal Kingdom (tascabile)

Patrick Bishop The Reckoning (tascabile)

Patrick Bishop: The Man Who Was Saturday [2019] Hardback

Bomber Boys By Patrick Bishop By Patrick Bishop (paperback) 9780007192151

Patrick Bishop Collection 4 Books Bomber Boys, Target Tirpitz, Air Force Blue

Magical World 9781803373119 Patrick Bishop - Free Tracked Delivery

Bomber Boys - Patrick Bishop - Hardback 2007 - First Edition 1/3 (#72)

The Reckoning By Patrick Bishop By Patrick Bishop (paperback) 9780007506194

Fighter Boys By Patrick Bishop By Patrick Bishop (paperback) 9780006532040

Patrick Bishop looks at the lives and the extraordinary risks that the painfully young pilots of Bomber Command took during the air-offensive against Germany from 1940-1945. As featured on the BBC 1 documentary BOMBER BOYS, presented by Ewan McGregor.\n\n\n They came from every corner of Britain and its Empire. They were the best of their generation…heading for one of the worst tasks of WWII.\n\n\n Like RAF pilots, the thousands of brave young men who joined Bomber Command took to the air to help Britain triumph in World War Two. But in the glow of victory, the fighter pilots were lauded for their efforts while the Bomber Boys faded in national memory. Crucial in the heat of combat, they were politically awkward afterwards.\n\n\n Yet with an average life expectancy shorter than that of soldiers on the Western front in WWI, these men faced death, injury and capture time and again to send bombs through the shrieking flak onto enemy territory. ‘Bomber Boys’ is a tribute to their strength, courage and heroism – filling in the historical blanks and immortalising their memory.

Afghanistan in the summer of 2006. In blazing heat in remote outposts the 3 Para battlegroup is pitted against a stubborn enemy who keep on coming. Until now, the full story of what happened there has not been told. This is it.\n\n\n In April 2006, the elite 3 Para battlegroup was despatched to Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. They were tasked with providing security to reconstruction efforts, a deployment it was hoped would pass off without a shot being fired. In fact, over the six months they were there, the 3 Para battle group saw near continuous combat – one gruelling battle after another – in what would become one of the most extraordinary campaigns ever fought by British troops.\n\n\n Around parched, dusty outposts reliant on a limited number of helicopters for food and ammunition resupply, troops were subjected to relentless Taliban attacks, as well as energy-sapping 50 degree heat and spartan conditions. At the end of the tour, the Taliban offensive aimed at driving the British and Afghan Government troops out of Helmand had been tactically defeated. But 3 Para paid a high price: fourteen soldiers and one interpreter were killed, and 46 wounded.\n\n\n ‘3 Para’ will tell the stories of the men and women who took part in this extraordinary and largely unreported saga. Best-selling author Patrick Bishop has been given exclusive access to the soldiers whose tales of courage and endurance provide an unforgettable portrait of one of the world's finest and most fascinating fighting regiments, and a remarkable band of warriors. Their bravery was reflected in the array of gallantry medals that were bestowed on their return, including the Victoria Cross awarded to Corporal Bryan Budd and the George Cross won by Corporal Mark Wright, both of whom were killed winning their awards.\n\n\n 3 Para’s saga of comradeship, courage and fortitude is set to become a classic.

In 2018 the RAF is one hundred years old. In his new book, destined to be a classic, Patrick Bishop examines the high point of its existence – the Second World War, when the Air Force saved the nation from defeat then led the advance to victory.\n \n\n\n A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER\n Air warfare was a terrible novelty of the modern age, requiring a new military outlook. From the beginning, the RAF’s identity set it apart from the traditional services. It was innovative, flexible and comparatively meritocratic, advancing the quasi-revolutionary idea that competence was more important than background.\n\n\n The Air Force went into the war with inadequate machines, training and tactics, and the early phase was littered with setbacks and debacles. Then, in the summer of 1940, in full view of the population, Fighter Command won one of the decisive battles of the struggle. Thereafter the RAF was gilded with an aura of success that never tarnished, going on to make a vital contribution to Allied victory in all theatres.\n\n\n Drawing from diaries, letters, memoirs, and interviews, Air Force Blue captures the nature of combat in the skies over the corrugated wastes of the Atlantic, the sands of the Western Desert and the jungles of Burma. It also brings to life the intensely lived dramas, romances, friendships and fun that were as important a part of the experience as the fighting.\n\n\n Air Force Blue portrays the spirit of the RAF – its heart and soul – during its finest hours. It is essential reading for the millions in Britain and the Commonwealth whose loved ones served, and for anyone who wants to understand the Second World War.

In the summer of 1940, the future of Britain and the free world depended on the morale and skill of the young men of Fighter Command. This is their story.\n\n\n The Battle of Britain is one of the most crucial battles ever fought, and the victory of Fighter Command over the Luftwaffe has always been celebrated as a classic feat of arms. But, as Patrick Bishop shows in this superb history, it was also a triumph of the spirit in which the attitudes of the pilots themselves played a crucial part. Reaching beyond the myths to convey the fear and exhilaration of life on this most perilous of frontlines, Patrick Bishop offers an intimate and compelling account that is a soaring tribute to the exceptional young men of Fighter Command.

From the bestselling author of Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, this is a magisterial chronicle of a defining episode in British history: the epic struggle of the Royal Air Force with the Luftwaffe. \n\nPatrick Bishop's Battle of Britain is a compelling account of Britain's fight for national survival, from the shock defeat and evacuation from Dunkirk in May/June 1940 to fighter Command's assertion of superiority over the Luftwaffe in mid-September. Battle of Britain takes the reader through that summer day by day, revealing the ongoing battle's impact on flyers and civilians alike. By enhancing his narrative with eye-witness accounts, diary extracts and pilot profiles, Bishop brings the often horrific reality of air combat vividly to life. In Battle of Britain Patrick Bishop has written the definitive account of one of the pivotal moments in twentieth-century British history, and a nation's 'finest hour'.

From the bestselling author of Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, this is a magisterial chronicle of a defining episode in British history: the epic struggle of the Royal Air Force with the Luftwaffe. \n\nPatrick Bishop's Battle of Britain is a compelling account of Britain's fight for national survival, from the shock defeat and evacuation from Dunkirk in May/June 1940 to fighter Command's assertion of superiority over the Luftwaffe in mid-September. Battle of Britain takes the reader through that summer day by day, revealing the ongoing battle's impact on flyers and civilians alike. By enhancing his narrative with eye-witness accounts, diary extracts and pilot profiles, Bishop brings the often horrific reality of air combat vividly to life. In Battle of Britain Patrick Bishop has written the definitive account of one of the pivotal moments in twentieth-century British history, and a nation's 'finest hour'.

Afghanistan in the summer of 2006. In blazing heat in remote outposts the 3 Para battlegroup is pitted against a stubborn enemy who keep on coming. Until now, the full story of what happened there has not been told. This is it.\n\n\n In April 2006, the elite 3 Para battlegroup was despatched to Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. They were tasked with providing security to reconstruction efforts, a deployment it was hoped would pass off without a shot being fired. In fact, over the six months they were there, the 3 Para battle group saw near continuous combat – one gruelling battle after another – in what would become one of the most extraordinary campaigns ever fought by British troops.\n\n\n Around parched, dusty outposts reliant on a limited number of helicopters for food and ammunition resupply, troops were subjected to relentless Taliban attacks, as well as energy-sapping 50 degree heat and spartan conditions. At the end of the tour, the Taliban offensive aimed at driving the British and Afghan Government troops out of Helmand had been tactically defeated. But 3 Para paid a high price: fourteen soldiers and one interpreter were killed, and 46 wounded.\n\n\n ‘3 Para’ will tell the stories of the men and women who took part in this extraordinary and largely unreported saga. Best-selling author Patrick Bishop has been given exclusive access to the soldiers whose tales of courage and endurance provide an unforgettable portrait of one of the world's finest and most fascinating fighting regiments, and a remarkable band of warriors. Their bravery was reflected in the array of gallantry medals that were bestowed on their return, including the Victoria Cross awarded to Corporal Bryan Budd and the George Cross won by Corporal Mark Wright, both of whom were killed winning their awards.\n\n\n 3 Para’s saga of comradeship, courage and fortitude is set to become a classic.

Patrick Bishop looks at the lives and the extraordinary risks that the painfully young pilots of Bomber Command took during the air-offensive against Germany from 1940-1945. As featured on the BBC 1 documentary BOMBER BOYS, presented by Ewan McGregor.\n\n\n They came from every corner of Britain and its Empire. They were the best of their generation…heading for one of the worst tasks of WWII.\n\n\n Like RAF pilots, the thousands of brave young men who joined Bomber Command took to the air to help Britain triumph in World War Two. But in the glow of victory, the fighter pilots were lauded for their efforts while the Bomber Boys faded in national memory. Crucial in the heat of combat, they were politically awkward afterwards.\n\n\n Yet with an average life expectancy shorter than that of soldiers on the Western front in WWI, these men faced death, injury and capture time and again to send bombs through the shrieking flak onto enemy territory. ‘Bomber Boys’ is a tribute to their strength, courage and heroism – filling in the historical blanks and immortalising their memory.

In the summer of 1940, the future of Britain and the free world depended on the morale and skill of the young men of Fighter Command. This is their story.\n\n\n The Battle of Britain is one of the most crucial battles ever fought, and the victory of Fighter Command over the Luftwaffe has always been celebrated as a classic feat of arms. But, as Patrick Bishop shows in this superb history, it was also a triumph of the spirit in which the attitudes of the pilots themselves played a crucial part. Reaching beyond the myths to convey the fear and exhilaration of life on this most perilous of frontlines, Patrick Bishop offers an intimate and compelling account that is a soaring tribute to the exceptional young men of Fighter Command.

A GRIPPING TALE OF BRAVERY DURING THE DIEPPE RAID OF 1942\n\n'An exemplary account of this wartime fiasco' Max Hastings, Sunday Times\n\n'well-researched, crisply written and utterly absorbing . . . will live for the reader long afterwards' Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny\n____________\n\nOn the warm night of 18 August 1942, a flotilla pushed out into the flat water of the Channel. They were to seize the German-held port of Dieppe, destroy key installations, seize intelligence material and then sail for home.\n\nThis was the greatest amphibious operation since Gallipoli, with the biggest accumulation of fighter power ever assembled. But by the morning of the attack, one of its architects already feared that the operation would \"go down as one of the great failures in history\". Its key players claimed it was essential to D-Day, with the media telling listeners that it was a success -- but the tragedy was all too predictable.\n\nUsing first-hand testimony from combatants and civilians, and colourful analysis of the roles of Mountbatten and Montgomery, bestselling author Patrick Bishop's gripping account brings Operation Jubilee powerfully and vividly to life, in an epic demonstration of how ambition, folly and courage came together in one of the most tragic episodes of the war.\n____________\n\n'Bishop's account of the operation is the best I've read. He understands war, he understands battle, and he understands men' Allan Mallinson, Spectator\n\n'Riveting and powerfully written. Patrick Bishop has turned this tragic cautionary tale into a fascinating, shrewd and timely reflection on leadership in a time of crisis' Henry Hemming, author of Our Man in New York\n\n'[This] gripping new book sets the record straight and honours the 6,000 brave men sent into the jaws of death' Daily Express\n\n'a masterclass of heart-stopping historical narrative . . . a gripping, beautifully written account' Saul David, Telegraph

A thrilling tale of incredible courage and resilience, a true wartime story of William Ash.\n\nThe Cooler King is at once uplifting and inspirational, and stands as a testament to the durability of decent values and the invincible spirit of liberty.\n\nThe Cooler King tells the astonishing story of William Ash, an American flyer brought up in Depression-hit Texas, who after being shot down in his Spitfire over France in early 1942 spent the rest of the war defying the Nazis by striving to escape from every prisoner of war camp in which he was incarcerated. \n\nAlongside William Ash is a cast of fascinating characters, including Douglas Bader, Roger Bushell, who would go on to lead the Great Escape, and Paddy Barthropp, a dashing Battle of Britain pilot who despite his very different background became Ash's best friend and shared many of his adventures. \n\nUsing contemporary documents and interviews with Ash's comrades, Patrick Bishop vividly recreates the multiple escape attempts, while also examining the P.O.W. experience and analysing the passion that drove some prisoners to risk death in repeated bids for freedom.

In 2018 the RAF is one hundred years old. In his new book, destined to be a classic, Patrick Bishop examines the high point of its existence – the Second World War, when the Air Force saved the nation from defeat then led the advance to victory.\n \n\n\n A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER\n Air warfare was a terrible novelty of the modern age, requiring a new military outlook. From the beginning, the RAF’s identity set it apart from the traditional services. It was innovative, flexible and comparatively meritocratic, advancing the quasi-revolutionary idea that competence was more important than background.\n\n\n The Air Force went into the war with inadequate machines, training and tactics, and the early phase was littered with setbacks and debacles. Then, in the summer of 1940, in full view of the population, Fighter Command won one of the decisive battles of the struggle. Thereafter the RAF was gilded with an aura of success that never tarnished, going on to make a vital contribution to Allied victory in all theatres.\n\n\n Drawing from diaries, letters, memoirs, and interviews, Air Force Blue captures the nature of combat in the skies over the corrugated wastes of the Atlantic, the sands of the Western Desert and the jungles of Burma. It also brings to life the intensely lived dramas, romances, friendships and fun that were as important a part of the experience as the fighting.\n\n\n Air Force Blue portrays the spirit of the RAF – its heart and soul – during its finest hours. It is essential reading for the millions in Britain and the Commonwealth whose loved ones served, and for anyone who wants to understand the Second World War.

A thrilling tale of incredible courage and resilience, a true wartime story of William Ash.\n\nThe Cooler King is at once uplifting and inspirational, and stands as a testament to the durability of decent values and the invincible spirit of liberty.\n\nThe Cooler King tells the astonishing story of William Ash, an American flyer brought up in Depression-hit Texas, who after being shot down in his Spitfire over France in early 1942 spent the rest of the war defying the Nazis by striving to escape from every prisoner of war camp in which he was incarcerated. \n\nAlongside William Ash is a cast of fascinating characters, including Douglas Bader, Roger Bushell, who would go on to lead the Great Escape, and Paddy Barthropp, a dashing Battle of Britain pilot who despite his very different background became Ash's best friend and shared many of his adventures. \n\nUsing contemporary documents and interviews with Ash's comrades, Patrick Bishop vividly recreates the multiple escape attempts, while also examining the P.O.W. experience and analysing the passion that drove some prisoners to risk death in repeated bids for freedom.

A GRIPPING TALE OF BRAVERY DURING THE DIEPPE RAID OF 1942\n\n'An exemplary account of this wartime fiasco' Max Hastings, Sunday Times\n\n'well-researched, crisply written and utterly absorbing . . . will live for the reader long afterwards' Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny\n____________\n\nOn the warm night of 18 August 1942, a flotilla pushed out into the flat water of the Channel. They were to seize the German-held port of Dieppe, destroy key installations, seize intelligence material and then sail for home.\n\nThis was the greatest amphibious operation since Gallipoli, with the biggest accumulation of fighter power ever assembled. But by the morning of the attack, one of its architects already feared that the operation would \"go down as one of the great failures in history\". Its key players claimed it was essential to D-Day, with the media telling listeners that it was a success -- but the tragedy was all too predictable.\n\nUsing first-hand testimony from combatants and civilians, and colourful analysis of the roles of Mountbatten and Montgomery, bestselling author Patrick Bishop's gripping account brings Operation Jubilee powerfully and vividly to life, in an epic demonstration of how ambition, folly and courage came together in one of the most tragic episodes of the war.\n____________\n\n'Bishop's account of the operation is the best I've read. He understands war, he understands battle, and he understands men' Allan Mallinson, Spectator\n\n'Riveting and powerfully written. Patrick Bishop has turned this tragic cautionary tale into a fascinating, shrewd and timely reflection on leadership in a time of crisis' Henry Hemming, author of Our Man in New York\n\n'[This] gripping new book sets the record straight and honours the 6,000 brave men sent into the jaws of death' Daily Express\n\n'a masterclass of heart-stopping historical narrative . . . a gripping, beautifully written account' Saul David, Telegraph

Patrick Mcginley: Bishop's Delight [2016] Paperback

Costume Da Uomo Prete Irlandese Verde Santo Patrick Vescovo Vicario Abito Fantasia Festa

'Stunning' i paper\n\n'Dangerously readable' Observer\n\n'Electrifying' Sunday Times\n\nNovelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Patrick is older than J.B., a revered film director and formerly her professor. J.B's art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his.\n\nFor days they sail in the sun, with nothing but dark water all around them. Then a storm hits, and Patrick falls off the ship.\n\nJ.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick - and the truth about their marriage - begins.\n\n'Magnificent' Joanna Cannon\n\n 'Compulsive' Financial Times\n\n 'I loved it' Megan Hunter

Stunning i paper\n\n'Dangerously readable' Observer\n\n'Electrifying' Sunday Times\n\nNovelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Patrick is older than J.B., a revered film director and formerly her professor. J.B's art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his.\n\nFor days they sail in the sun, with nothing but dark water all around them. Then a storm hits, and Patrick falls off the ship.\n\nJ.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick - and the truth about their marriage - begins.\n\n'Magnificent' Joanna Cannon\n\n 'Compulsive' Financial Times\n\n 'I loved it' Megan Hunter

My name is William Bishop.\nI belong to the US 1st Infantry Division, the famous Big Red One.\nToday is the 6th of June 1944 and, in a few minutes, I'll be landing on Omaha Beach, in the Easy Red sector.\nA beach that will go down in History as Bloody Omaha...\nThis is my story...

My name is William Bishop.\nI belong to the US 1st Infantry Division, the famous Big Red One.\nToday is the 6th of June 1944 and, in a few minutes, I'll be landing on Omaha Beach, in the Easy Red sector.\nA beach that will go down in History as Bloody Omaha...\nThis is my story...

'I loved this book, as I love any good adventure story sublimely told . . . a gloriously exciting high, followed by a crushing realisation of war's enormous waste' Gerard deGroot, The Times\n\n'Absorbing . . . The extraordinary bravery of the participants shines out from the narrative' Patrick Bishop, Sunday Telegraph\n_________________________________\n\nFROM THE AUTHOR OF BRIDGE OF SPIES: A dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War Two\n\nIn the darkest months of the Second World War, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook \"the greatest raid of all\", turning an old destroyer into a live bomb and using it to ram the gates of a Nazi stronghold. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded -- more than in any similar operation.\n\nDrawing on official documents, interviews, unknown accounts and the astonished reactions of French civilians and German forces, The Greatest Raid recreates in cinematic detail the hours in which the \"Charioteers\" fought and died, from Lt Gerard Brett, the curator at the V & A, to \"Bertie\" Burtinshaw, who went into battle humming There'll Always be an England, and from Lt Stuart Chant, who set the fuses with 90 seconds to escape, to the epic solo reconnaissance of the legendary Times journalist Capt Micky Burn.\n\nUnearthing the untold human stories of Operation Chariot, Bridge of Spies author Giles Whittell reveals it to be a fundamentally misconceived raid whose impact and legacy was secured by astonishing bravery.\n_________________________________\n\n'Enthralling . . . the heroism on display that night was unsurpassed, and Whittell is right to call his book The Greatest Raid' Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday\n\n'A compelling page-turner, the work of a master storyteller. The drama of the March 1942 operation is cinematic in its sweep and detail -- and Whittell's detective work on the real reasons for the raid is extraordinary. Beautifully written' Matthew d'Ancona

THE SUNDAY TIMES NON FICTION BESTSELLER\n\nWHSmith NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018\n\n'The best book you will ever read about Britain's greatest warplane.' Patrick Bishop, bestselling author of Fighter Boys.\n\n'A rich and heartfelt tribute to this most iconic British machine. By focussing on the men (and women) who flew the Spitfire, John Nichol has brought a fresh and powerful perspective to the story. And by recording their bravery, humility, camaraderie, tragedy and sheer joy in flying their beloved Spits he has done them - and us - a valuable service' Rowland White, bestselling author of Vulcan 607\n\n'As the RAF marks its centenary, Nichol has created a thrilling and often moving tribute to some of its greatest heroes.' Jon Dennis, Mail on Sunday magazine.\n\n'A stirring portrait of a piece of aviation art in motion flown by the bravest of the brave. Nichol's Spitfire is still a sky-borne prima ballerina that kicks like Bruce Lee.' RAF News\n\n'A superb and compelling book. Brilliantly written with some incredible and astonishing stories; it is gripping, moving, emotional and sometimes humorous - just perfect' Squadron Leader (Ret) Clive Rowley, former Officer Commanding RAF Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight\n \n'A superb journey through the remarkable tale of that British icon, the Spitfire. Brilliantly and engagingly written, this is the most readable story of the aircraft and her pilots that I have ever had the pleasure to read in a period spanning some forty-odd years of personal study and research. Truly stunning.' Andy Saunders, Editor, Britain at War Magazine.\n\n \nThe perfect complementary narrative to the bestselling memoir by Geoffrey Wellum - First Light.\n \nAchtung, Spitfire!\nThe iconic Spitfire found fame during the darkest early days of World War II. But what happened to the redoubtable fighter and its crews beyond the Battle of Britain, and why is it still so loved today?\n\nIn late spring 1940, Nazi Germany's domination of Europe had looked unstoppable. With the British Isles in easy reach since the fall of France, Adolf Hitler was convinced that Great Britain would be defeated in the skies over her southern coast, confident his Messerschmitts and Heinkels would outclass anything the Royal Air Force threw at them. What Hitler hadn't planned for was the agility and resilience of a marvel of British engineering that would quickly pass into legend - the Spitfire.\n\nBestselling author John Nichol's passionate portrait of this magnificent fighter aircraft, its many innovations and updates, and the people who flew and loved them, carries the reader beyond the dogfights over Kent and Sussex. Spanning the full global reach of the Spitfire's deployment during WWII, from Malta to North Africa and the Far East, then over the D-Day beaches, it is always accessible, effortlessly entertaining and full of extraordinary spirit. \n \nHere are edge-of-the-seat stories and heart-stopping first-hand accounts...

THE SUNDAY TIMES NON FICTION BESTSELLER\n WHSmith NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018\n\n'The best book you will ever read about Britain's greatest warplane' Patrick Bishop, bestselling author of Fighter Boys\n'A rich and heartfelt tribute to this most iconic British machine' Rowland White, bestselling author of Vulcan 607\n 'As the RAF marks its centenary, Nichol has created a thrilling and often moving tribute to some of its greatest heroes' Mail on Sunday magazine\n \nThe iconic Spitfire found fame during the darkest early days of World War II. But what happened to the redoubtable fighter and its crews beyond the Battle of Britain, and why is it still so loved today?\n\n In late spring 1940, Nazi Germany's domination of Europe had looked unstoppable. With the British Isles in easy reach since the fall of France, Adolf Hitler was convinced that Great Britain would be defeated in the skies over her southern coast, confident his Messerschmitts and Heinkels would outclass anything the Royal Air Force threw at them. What Hitler hadn't planned for was the agility and resilience of a marvel of British engineering that would quickly pass into legend - the Spitfire.\n\n Bestselling author John Nichol's passionate portrait of this magnificent fighter aircraft, its many innovations and updates, and the people who flew and loved them, carries the reader beyond the dogfights over Kent and Sussex. Spanning the full global reach of the Spitfire's deployment during WWII, from Malta to North Africa and the Far East, then over the D-Day beaches, it is always accessible, effortlessly entertaining and full of extraordinary spirit. \n \n Here are edge-of-the-seat stories and heart-stopping first-hand accounts of battling pilots forced to bail out over occupied territory; of sacrifice and wartime love; of aristocratic female flyers, and of the mechanics who braved the Nazi onslaught to keep the aircraft in battle-ready condition. Nichol takes the reader on a hair-raising, nail-biting and moving wartime history of the iconic Spitfire populated by a cast of redoubtable, heroic characters that make you want to stand up and cheer.

THE SUNDAY TIMES NON FICTION BESTSELLER\n\nWHSmith NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018\n\n'The best book you will ever read about Britain's greatest warplane.' Patrick Bishop, bestselling author of Fighter Boys.\n\n'A rich and heartfelt tribute to this most iconic British machine. By focussing on the men (and women) who flew the Spitfire, John Nichol has brought a fresh and powerful perspective to the story. And by recording their bravery, humility, camaraderie, tragedy and sheer joy in flying their beloved Spits he has done them - and us - a valuable service' Rowland White, bestselling author of Vulcan 607\n\n'As the RAF marks its centenary, Nichol has created a thrilling and often moving tribute to some of its greatest heroes.' Jon Dennis, Mail on Sunday magazine.\n\n'A stirring portrait of a piece of aviation art in motion flown by the bravest of the brave. Nichol's Spitfire is still a sky-borne prima ballerina that kicks like Bruce Lee.' RAF News\n\n'A superb and compelling book. Brilliantly written with some incredible and astonishing stories; it is gripping, moving, emotional and sometimes humorous - just perfect' Squadron Leader (Ret) Clive Rowley, former Officer Commanding RAF Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight\n \n'A superb journey through the remarkable tale of that British icon, the Spitfire. Brilliantly and engagingly written, this is the most readable story of the aircraft and her pilots that I have ever had the pleasure to read in a period spanning some forty-odd years of personal study and research. Truly stunning.' Andy Saunders, Editor, Britain at War Magazine.\n\n \nThe perfect complementary narrative to the bestselling memoir by Geoffrey Wellum - First Light.\n \nAchtung, Spitfire!\nThe iconic Spitfire found fame during the darkest early days of World War II. But what happened to the redoubtable fighter and its crews beyond the Battle of Britain, and why is it still so loved today?\n\nIn late spring 1940, Nazi Germany's domination of Europe had looked unstoppable. With the British Isles in easy reach since the fall of France, Adolf Hitler was convinced that Great Britain would be defeated in the skies over her southern coast, confident his Messerschmitts and Heinkels would outclass anything the Royal Air Force threw at them. What Hitler hadn't planned for was the agility and resilience of a marvel of British engineering that would quickly pass into legend - the Spitfire.\n\nBestselling author John Nichol's passionate portrait of this magnificent fighter aircraft, its many innovations and updates, and the people who flew and loved them, carries the reader beyond the dogfights over Kent and Sussex. Spanning the full global reach of the Spitfire's deployment during WWII, from Malta to North Africa and the Far East, then over the D-Day beaches, it is always accessible, effortlessly entertaining and full of extraordinary spirit. \n \nHere are edge-of-the-seat stories and heart-stopping first-hand accounts...

THE SUNDAY TIMES NON FICTION BESTSELLER\n WHSmith NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018\n\n'The best book you will ever read about Britain's greatest warplane' Patrick Bishop, bestselling author of Fighter Boys\n'A rich and heartfelt tribute to this most iconic British machine' Rowland White, bestselling author of Vulcan 607\n 'As the RAF marks its centenary, Nichol has created a thrilling and often moving tribute to some of its greatest heroes' Mail on Sunday magazine\n \nThe iconic Spitfire found fame during the darkest early days of World War II. But what happened to the redoubtable fighter and its crews beyond the Battle of Britain, and why is it still so loved today?\n\n In late spring 1940, Nazi Germany's domination of Europe had looked unstoppable. With the British Isles in easy reach since the fall of France, Adolf Hitler was convinced that Great Britain would be defeated in the skies over her southern coast, confident his Messerschmitts and Heinkels would outclass anything the Royal Air Force threw at them. What Hitler hadn't planned for was the agility and resilience of a marvel of British engineering that would quickly pass into legend - the Spitfire.\n\n Bestselling author John Nichol's passionate portrait of this magnificent fighter aircraft, its many innovations and updates, and the people who flew and loved them, carries the reader beyond the dogfights over Kent and Sussex. Spanning the full global reach of the Spitfire's deployment during WWII, from Malta to North Africa and the Far East, then over the D-Day beaches, it is always accessible, effortlessly entertaining and full of extraordinary spirit. \n \n Here are edge-of-the-seat stories and heart-stopping first-hand accounts of battling pilots forced to bail out over occupied territory; of sacrifice and wartime love; of aristocratic female flyers, and of the mechanics who braved the Nazi onslaught to keep the aircraft in battle-ready condition. Nichol takes the reader on a hair-raising, nail-biting and moving wartime history of the iconic Spitfire populated by a cast of redoubtable, heroic characters that make you want to stand up and cheer.

I loved this book, as I love any good adventure story sublimely told . . . a gloriously exciting high, followed by a crushing realisation of wars enormous waste' Gerard deGroot, The Times\n\n'Absorbing . . . The extraordinary bravery of the participants shines out from the narrative' Patrick Bishop, Sunday Telegraph\n_________________________________\n\nFROM THE AUTHOR OF BRIDGE OF SPIES: A dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War Two\n\nIn the darkest months of the Second World War, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook \"the greatest raid of all\", turning an old destroyer into a live bomb and using it to ram the gates of a Nazi stronghold. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded -- more than in any similar operation.\n\nDrawing on official documents, interviews, unknown accounts and the astonished reactions of French civilians and German forces, The Greatest Raid recreates in cinematic detail the hours in which the \"Charioteers\" fought and died, from Lt Gerard Brett, the curator at the V & A, to \"Bertie\" Burtinshaw, who went into battle humming There'll Always be an England, and from Lt Stuart Chant, who set the fuses with 90 seconds to escape, to the epic solo reconnaissance of the legendary Times journalist Capt Micky Burn.\n\nUnearthing the untold human stories of Operation Chariot, Bridge of Spies author Giles Whittell reveals it to be a fundamentally misconceived raid whose impact and legacy was secured by astonishing bravery.\n_________________________________\n\n'Enthralling . . . the heroism on display that night was unsurpassed, and Whittell is right to call his book The Greatest Raid' Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday\n\n'A compelling page-turner, the work of a master storyteller. The drama of the March 1942 operation is cinematic in its sweep and detail -- and Whittell's detective work on the real reasons for the raid is extraordinary. Beautifully written' Matthew d'Ancona