Author(s): Dilip Sarkar

World History

Author has interviewed more Battle of Britain pilots than any other historian. Over 120 historic photographs, most originate from the personal albums of Battle of Britain veterans and have never been reproduced before. A h PRAISE FOR HARDBACK PUBLISHED IN AUGUST 2009: A h LADY BADER: Over the last 30 years Dilip Sarkar has sought out and interviewed or corresponded with numerous survivors worldwide. Many of these were not famous combatants, but those who formed the unsung backbone of Fighter Command in 1940. Without Dilip's patient recording and collation of their memories, many of these survivors would not have left behind a permanent record of their experiences. A| A h GEORGE UNWIN, Battle of Britain fighter ace: Dilip knows more about me and the pilots with whom I flew during the Battle of Britain than we do! If anyone ever needs to know anything about the RAF during the summer of 1940, don A|t ask the Few, ask him!
A| A h HUGH SEBAG MONTEFIORE, author of Dunkirk: A well-researched, detailed chronicle of the Battle of BritainA- written by the men who fought so bravely to repulse the German raiders A| The Battle of Britain started on 10 July 1940, ending 16 weeks later on 31 October 1940. The Luftwaffe A|s intention was to destroy Fighter Command, domination of the skies being crucial to Hitler A|s invasion plan. During that fateful summer, young RAF fighter pilots, flying Spitfires and Hurricanes, were scrambled time and time again to face insuperable odds - and the Luftwaffe was, until that point, unbeaten. Dilip Sarkar has been fascinated by the Battle of Britain since childhood and began seriously researching the subject in the 1970s. He wrote thousands of letters and travelled extensively over the UK interviewing the fabled Few A|. Over the last 30 years he has interviewed more Battle of Britain survivors than any other author and his archive is a unique collection of veterans voices A|. In this new book Dilip Sarkar chronicles the Battle of Britain from start to finish, drawing extensively from his interviews with pilots.