It was the most intense and critical struggle of World War II, the outcome of which would mean freedom or Nazi domination of Europe. Fought by a handful of young men, some as young as 18, it was the Battle of Britain, and in this lively and stirring history, acclaimed author Michael Korda, who served in the RAF himself, tells the complete story, witnessed through the tales of pilots, ground crews, and commanders on both sides. Korda sets the battle against the political happenings of 1930s Europe and introduces the visionary engineers and scientists in Germany and Britain whose aircraft and stunning innovations-like radar-would be used with dramatic results. He also explores the political struggle behind the battle. As the British Army evacuated from Dunkirk and France fell to the Germans, Korda shows how Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding fought to prevent Prime Minister Winston Churchill from sending additional fighters to France, where Dowding knew they would be lost - perhaps the single most critical moment in British political history and the pivotal moment of the war. 'Korda's natural talent and experience as a storyteller has enabled him to bind all the disparate and sometimes conflicting episodes into a gripping story. A formidable job, beautifully completed.' Len Deighton, author of Fighter and Bomber. 'We climb into our cockpits for the dog-fights with an awareness none of the pilots had the context of politics, personalities, engineering and strategy from both sides of the battle. It is compelling history.' Sir Harold Evans Michael is the former editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster. His many books include Ike, Charmed Lives, Queenie, Country Matters, Horse People, Ullysses S. Grant and Journey to a Revolution.