Finest Hour : The Battle of Britain

By Tim Clayton and Phil Craig

Book Overview

Sixty years ago, Europe lay at the feet of Adolf Hitler. In a series of whirlwind campaigns between September 1939 and June 1940, Germany defeated Poland, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France. It had signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, driven the British Expeditionary Force off the continent of Europe at Dunkirk, and stood poised to invade Great Britain, the only remaining belligerent. Standing between Hitler and world domination was the just-elected prime minister, Winston Churchill...and a few thousand pilots in the Royal Air Force's Fighter Command. Defeat seemed inevitable. instead, a legend was born. Taking its readers on a breathtaking journey from open lifeboats in North Atlantic gales to the cockpits of burning fighter planes, Finest Hour recreates the tensions and uncertainties of the events of 1940 -- months when the fate of the world truly did hang in the balance. It is a powerful account, told through the voices, diaries, letters, and memoirs of the men and women who lived and loved, fought and died during that terrible yet ultimately triumphant year. The personal stories of these soldiers and airmen, diplomats and politicians, journalists and spies are combined with a fresh and often controversial account of the swirling political intrigues and betrayals of the period. Here are President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ambassador Joseph Kennedy; journalists Edward R. Murrow and Whitelaw Reid; Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King and French Premier Paul Reynaud. Here are the Royal Navy's assault on the French fleet, the hushed-up catastrophe of the SS Lancastria, America's secret plans to cope with the expected defeat of Britain, and Winston Churchill's indomitable determination to bring the New World to the rescue of the Old. A testament to a year when a nation's darkest hour became its finest, a work that blends original historical research with the experiences of ordinary people living in desperate times, Finest Hour is a singular achievement, an indispensable contribution to the literature of World War II

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684869306
• ISBN13: 9780684869308
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book!

I actually read this book on the plane flying back from England. It gives you real insight as to what was happening on various fronts during the war, both at home in England and on the battle fronts. More remarkable is how close England came to falling and the back door dealings as to what would happen to England and the British fleet if Germany had succeeded in conquering England prior to the U.S. actually entering the war. Very readable and hard to put down. If you have any interest in England during WWII you will want to read this book.

Truly their finest hour....

Without a doubt, this is an excellent book. Therein, the reader will receive a view into the lives British fliers, sailors, soldiers, and civilians as well as "detached" observers, such as American journalists from the Battle of France through the Blitz.What made this book special to me, was that I had the opportunity to learn more about the fellows of 17 Sqn. Some years ago, I had the privilege to correspond with one of the characters - Harold Arthur Cooper Bird-Wilson (known in the book as "Birdy" Bird-Wilson), DFC DSO; this book gave me a better insight to not only to his experiences, but also to those across the spectrum of British society during that time.

A superb example of history from below

I think this will go down as one of the best books of history from the view of ordinary people. It is not a definitive version of the events or even close to it, but I think it does give a feeling of how people lived through a momentous time. I was touched and horrified by many of the stories. There was the story of the soldiers marching who were so tired they were asleep until they bumped into the person ahead or behind them. There are hundreds of these stories weaved into a superb narrative.Not a comprehensive history, but a great introduction to the art of history from the viewpoint of ordinary people.

Tremendously readable, quasi-revisionist history

This is a great book. It is also a great history. Craig and Clayton have definitely done their homework, digging through both official archives and endless (and occasionally disturbing) eyewitness testimony. The result is the best book on the subject I've ever read.The authors have wisely decided to focus on the essentials of this story. Instead of a numbing account of each raid, we get an overall summary of events for each period of time and a detailed description of a few representative events. When appropriate, we also go behind the scenes to hear what leaders on all sides of the conflict are thinking, although they don't overdo this.The authors have challenged some cherished myths about the conflict (although perhaps not to the extent they claim). Most obviously, they cite examples of Allied atrocities, to counteract the myth that Britain fought completely nobly. However, they back up all their assertions scrupulously and never tear down the Allies just for the sake of it.The result is one of the most readable and thoughtful books I have read on World War II.

Spellbinding Book Wonderfully Covering The Battle of Britain

In one of the darkest moments of modern history, the British people stood isolated and alone against the bulwark of the fabulously successfully forces of the Third Reich, who had just finished "blitkreiging" their way across Western Europe, forcing the desperate evacuation of the battered English army from the shores of Dunkirk to save them from certain slaughter at the hands of a rampaging Wehrmacht. In this absolutely riveting book, the authors describe the extraordinary effort of the Brits in fending off the vastly superior numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft soon invading the airspace over the English countryside. As Churchill said so memorably at the time, this attempt to beat back the Nazis might well become Britain's "finest hour".It is a tale well told, one most Americans of a certain age are familiar with. But our mere familiarity should not deter us from enjoying this endlessly entertaining and well-narrated tale, which is both extremely approachable and understandable on the one hand for the first time student, and also immensely informative and detailed regarding Churchill's knack for popular leadership and the ways in which he bedeviled his countryman into rising to the their "finest hour". It may come as a surprise to some to discover that up to the moment of defeat in France, there were still efforts at appeasement of the Nazis being bandied about within the marbled halls of Parliament. Yet the British quickly rallied round the flagpole that Winston Churchill raised on high, and he urged them on provocatively and memorably time after time. The book also excels at telling this story from the viewpoint of eye-witness participants, and the reader is whisked memorably along by machine-gun rapid-fire of personal eyewitness testimonies that succeed brilliantly in bringing the drama into bold relief and focus, breathing life into this otherwise `oft told tale'. It is hard for one to commit the most grievous crime of hyperbole when speaking of this particular event and time in history, when the Third Reich had quickly and massively crushed all opposition against it, and the Wehrmacht swept west all the way to the English Channel. In this moment of fear, terror and expectation, the world literally held its breath as the fateful and bloody contest began. The Brits stood alone, the only obstacle to Hitler's determination to end all opposition in the west so he could concentrate on his real objective, "living space" in the east in the breadbasket region of the Soviet Union, the Ukraine. And the British, having the undivided attention of the Luftwaffe, were indeed badly outnumbered.The reader will soon find himself glued to his armchair, unable to resist continuing as the pages resound quickly past one with a myriad of colorful details and discussions about how the defense of the home island and all that involved. Whether it be a discussion of how the Americans participated, the German views and expectations,