But for all its virtues, Holland’s book has two major problems. One is that its account is badly lopsided. Despite the title, The Battle of Britain does not actually start until almost two-thirds of the way through the text because so much detailed attention is given to events leading up to the conflict, especially the Battle of France. This lack of chronological balance not only means that the account ends rather abruptly but also that too little attention is paid to episodes in the autumn of 1940, such as the beginning of the Blitz or the sacking of the Fighter Command Chief Sir Hugh Dowding. The second drawback is the language, which sometimes slides into cliché or colloquialism. So Neville Chamberlain is described as ‘ashen’ and ‘shell-shocked’ during the Norway debate, while one German naval commander is said to have been ‘born with the sea in his lungs’ which sounds like a life-threatening medical condition.
One of the RAF airmen who features heavily in Holland’s story is Tom Neil, a dashing Hurricane pilot whose 1987 Battle of Britain memoir has now been reissued. His gift for description and his raw honesty make this a truly compelling account of the conflict, which he fought when he was aged just 19. Equally enjoyable is Dilip Sarkar’s Last of the Few, which uses a wealth of first-hand testimony from 18 former RAF pilots. Unlike Holland’s account, the story is told entirely from Britain’s point of view but it is still fascinating to read about the real experiences of the airmen, stripped of mythology and bombast. A former police officer, Sarkar has become a leading expert on the history of Fighter Command through his mix of enthusiasm and energy. He has written more than 20 books on the subject and this is one of his finest, a worthy tribute to the men who gave our nation her finest hour.
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