The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain

by Stephen Bungay

Overview

Stephen Bungay’s magisterial history is acclaimed as the account of the Battle of Britain.

Unrivalled for its synthesis of all previous historical accounts, for the quality of its strategic analysis and its truly compulsive narrative, this is a book ultimately distinguished by its conclusions – that it was the British in the Battle who displayed all the virtues of efficiency, organisation and even ruthlessness we habitually attribute to the Germans, and they who fell short in their amateurism, ill-preparedness, poor engineering and even in their old-fashioned notions of gallantry.

An engrossing read for the military scholar and the general reader alike, this is a classic of military history that looks beyond the mythology, to explore all the tragedy and comedy; the brutality and compassion of war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845136505
Publisher:	Aurum
Publication date:	09/25/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	671,717
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stephen Bungay was born in Kent in 1954 and educated at Oxford and Tübingen. He has spent his career working for the Boston Consulting Group in London and Munich as a chief executive in an insurance company. He is now working in executive education, specialising in military history and modern management practice. His first book, The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain, published by Aurum in 2001 has now become accepted as the definitive book on the subject. His subsequent book, Alamein, also published by Aurum, was praised by Lawrence James in the Daily Mail as €˜a brilliant balance between lucid analysis and piquant detail', and by John Lukacs in the Los Angeles Times as €˜terse and brilliantly written by a thorough master of his subject'. He regularly appears on TV documentaries about the Second World War. He lives in Kent.
STEPHEN BUNGAY was born in Kent in 1954 and educated at Oxford and Tübingen. He has spent his career working for the Boston Consulting Group in London and Munich as a chief executive in an insurance company. He is now working in executive education, specialising in military history and modern management practice. His first book, The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain, published by Aurum in 2001 has now become accepted as the definitive book on the subject. His subsequent book, Alamein, also published by Aurum, was praised by Lawrence James in the Daily Mail as 'a brilliant balance between lucid analysis and piquant detail', and by John Lukacs in the Los Angeles Times as 'terse and brilliantly written by a thorough master of his subject'. He regularly appears on TV documentaries about the Second World War. He lives in Kent.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Introduction xi

Prologue 1

Part I Build-Up

1 The Reason Why 7

2 The Threat 27

3 The Assailant 35

4 Air Defence 55

5 The Fighters 70

6 The Bombers 87

7 Strenght for Battle 93

8 Sealion 109

9 Eagle 116

10 The Defenders 128

Part II Battle

11 The Enemy at the Gate 141

12 The Channel: July 147

13 The Men 161

14 The Channel: August 179

15 The Numbers Game 186

16 Eagle Day 203

17 The Greatest Day 213

18 The Hardest Day 221

19 Thinking Again 232

20 Hunters and Hunter 239

21 Tactics 249

22 Sumemr's Lease 268

23 The Airfields 285

24 The Pilots 292

25 London 302

26 Battle of Britain Day 318

27 Bluffing 337

Part III Aftermath

28 Feuding 353

29 The Spoils of War 360

30 Appraisal 368

31 Meanings 389

Epilogue 400

Postscript 406

Appendix 1 Luftwaffe Order of Battle, 13 August 1940 408

Appendix 2 Fighter Command Order of Battle, 1 July 1940 419

Appendix 3 Fighter Command Order of Battle, 1 September 1940 423

Sources 427

Acknowledgements 431

Bibliography 433

Notes 441

Index 481

Editorial Reviews

The most exhaustive and detailed account of the Battle of Britain that has yet appeared. An important achievement.

Times Literary Supplement

‘Stephen Bungay delves into new ground. These threads have been woven together to form an eloquent and informative tapestry... It will be difficult for a new work on this subject to add any more to our knowledge of those months in 1940’ 

‘The magnitude and vital importance of the Battle of Britain has found a superb chronicler in Stephen Bungay, whose book is the best single-volume history to be published in over a decade’

'A fascinating case history in illusion and reality. He dispels the myths and kills the cliches... Admirable'

'The most exhaustive and detailed account of the Battle of Britain that has yet appeared'

'A fascinating case history in illusion and reality. He dispels the myths and kills the cliches... Admirable'

‘The magnitude and vital importance of the Battle of Britain has found a superb chronicler in Stephen Bungay, whose book is the best single-volume history to be published in over a decade’

‘Stephen Bungay delves into new ground. These threads have been woven together to form an eloquent and informative tapestry… It will be difficult for a new work on this subject to add any more to our knowledge of those months in 1940’ 

From the Publisher