Dimensions
157 x 235 x 38mm
The Struggle for the Skies from the First World War to the Battle of Britain.
Group Captain Peter Townsend - himself a Battle of Britain pilot - traces the background to the conflict from the defeat destruction of the Kaiser's air force to the long days of 1940 when Spitfires and Messerschmitts fought their battles to the death over England.
For Britain, the new air force created in the face of iron opposition from politicians and the Admiralty, triumphed in September 1940 to vindicate men like Dowding, Commander-in-Chief, Fighter Command whose faith in his fighting men and their aircraft was unshakeable.
For Germany the Battle came as the pinnacle of years of secret preparation - Air Marshal Goering's mighty Luftwaffe had begun as a clandestine air section under the Reichministerium but the Battle of Britain revealed its full power and showed how Germany had burst the shackles imposed by the Versailles Treaty.
Dogfights in the sky, ruthless political manoeuvres, legendary heroes of the air like Richthofen (the "Red Baron") and Douglas Bader - 'Duel Of Eagles' combines all of these in a colourful, dramatic and evocative account of the furious air conflict that saved Britain from German invasion.