Richard Overy: The Battle of Britain

Orwell, George, 92, 117, 122

Ostend, 63

Park, Keith, Air Vice-Marshall, 31–2, 39, 62, 67, 70–71, 74–7, 81, 84–6, 110–11, 117

Pas de Calais, 48

Passchendaele, Battle of, xi

Pile, Sir Frederick, Lt General, 42–3

pilot numbers, 37–9, 54–5, 73–4, 112–13, 148

Plymouth, 91

poison gas, 46–7, 105–6

Poland, 3, 6, 55

Polish Air Force, 7

Polish Fighter Command squadrons, 38–9

Portal, Sir Charles, Air Marshall, 118

Quade, General, 27

radar (RDF), 4, 40–42, 69, 72, 84

Radio-Telephony Direction Finding (R/T-D/F), 40–41

Raeder, Erich, Grossadmiral, 16–17, 27, 87–8

Ramsgate, 19

Red Army, 22

Ribbentrop, Joachim von, 17–19

Richmond, 83

Richthofen squadron, 28

Romania, 22

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 120

Rotterdam, 55, 64

Royal Air Force (RAF), xii–xiii, 6–8, 23, 29–30, 35, 44–5, 49, 52, 56, 63–6, 72–7, 88, 106, 110–17

Royal Flying Corps, 29–30

Royal Navy, 6, 63, 108

St Pancras, 83

Schmidt, Josef ‘Beppo,’ Colonel, 114

Schulenburg, Friedrich von der, 18

Scotland, 13–14

Scunthorpe, 62

Sevastopol, 121

Shirer, William, 20, 82

Shropshire, 66

‘Silent Column’ campaign, 14

Sinclair, Sir Archibald, 28–9, 38, 118

Slough, 83

Somaliland, 103–4

Somerset, 66

Somme, Battle of, xi

South Africa, 15

Southampton, 62, 91, 98

Southgate, 83

Soviet Union, 22, 34–5, 103, 107

Spain, 87, 107

Spanish Civil War, 48

Sperrle, Hugo, Field Marshall, 48–9, 57, 111

Stalingrad, 120–21

Stanmore, 39–40

Stockwell, 90

Stumpff, Hans, General, 57

Sudetenland, 13–14

Surrey, 47

Sussex, 47, 68–9

Switzerland, 106

terror attacks, 5, 89, 97–8

Tonbridge, 75

Trafalgar, Battle of, xi, 122

Trafalgar Day, 122

Treasury, 76

Trenchard, Lord, Marshall of the RAF, 118

Udet, Ernst, Colonel, 51–3

‘Ultra’ see ‘Enigma’

United States of America, 103, 118–20

USSR see Soviet Union

Uxbridge (11 Group HQ), 74

Ventnor, 72

Wales, 13–14

War Office, 13

Warrington–Morris, A. D., Air Commodore, 41

Warsaw, 55

Wedel, Haffl von, Lt, 113

Wembley, 83

Western Front, 28

Wimbledon, 83

Wood Green, 83

‘Masterly… packs a devastating punch. Such is Professor Overy’s grasp of the historical detail that he is able to puncture with pinpoint accuracy the myths that now obscure this pivotal event… conveys the heat and passion of conflict… a model of historical clarity.’

‘Admirably clear, concise and level-headed… makes a convincing case.’

‘Masterful… a perfect introduction to a complicated story… a worthy and highly readable account of that historic victory.’

‘It is hard to imagine a sounder and more succinct account of the Battle of Britain.’

‘My ideal history book… frees the Battle of Britain of myth, making the old story fresh as paint.’

‘Carefully argued, clearly explained and impressively documented… a notable achievement.’

Richard Overy is Professor of History at King’s College, London. His previous books include Russia’s War, Interrogations and most recently The Dictators.

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published as The Battle by Penguin 2000

Reissued in 2001

Reissued under the current title 2004

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Copyright © Richard Overy, 2000

All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

ISBN: 978-0-14-192612-4