With Wings like Eagles by Michael Korda is a thoughtful look at what is arguable one of the greatest air battles in history – the Battle of Britain. Every time I think that there simply cannot be anything else written about this particular battle, I am taken back in the fact that every few years someone comes out with a new work, with a little different slant on things. Some of these books are great, some not so great and some are absolutely horrid. This work by Korda falls into the first category.
This account of The Battle of Britain is not one of those “shoot-em-up bang, bang books” filled with the personal narratives and recollections of the pilots who took part in this battle; rather it is an overall view of the battle and the sequence of events, really starting before the fall of France and the evacuation at Dunkirk. This work concentrates more on the planning, preparation and mechanics of the battle than some past offerings by others, and it certainly does a wonderful job of examining and assessing the tremendous egos of the leaders of all countries involved (England, Germany and France, along with the supporting cast). I found the account of infighting on the British General Staff and German High Command as fascinating as the actually physical battle.

There are always reasons for everything, and the result of this battle certainly had many factors at play, some planned, some purely opportunistic and then there was the sheer luck involved. The author has given fare nods to all. This works takes a close look at the battle from both the British and the German perspective and has done quite a nice job of it. Now I cannot make the claim as some that “this is a well researched book,” as I simply do not know if it was or was not. I will say that what I read pretty well agrees with the many other accounts of the battle, and as far as I could tell the time line was quite accurate. When the author speculates, he goes to great pains in pointing this fact out. What I am trying to say is that I am far from an expert on this particular battle, but from what I do know of it (which is actually quite a lot for a pure armature reader of history) all seemed to be in order. I am quite sure that someone who has a more extensive background in this area could probably nit-pick the book to death…but to what ends?

The author does give us some food for thought in this work. The primary aspect of this battle is one that I had never considered. It is the author’s opinion that the appeasers, Chamberlain being the led dog in this pack, actually helped England in some rather unexpected ways. The author speculates had not these men gone through their appeasement process, England never would have had the time to ready themselves for a battle which was absolutely inevitable in one form or another. Now whether this was done on purpose (a fact I doubt), or whether it was foresight on the part of Chamberlain is indeed pure speculation.

This book of course strongly features Churchill, and rightfully so, but also includes the thoughts and actions of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, the real architect of the English victory, and that of his opposite Goring. We also get an insightful look at the developers of the weapon platforms used; Williy Messerschmitt, R.J. Mitchell, Sidney Cam and the rest of the engineers involved. The author discusses the old argument that “the bomber will always get through’ verses the tactical and strategically use of the fighter type aircraft. This was of course the central augment of the time and the author has addressed this at length.

It is also gratifying to read an author who points out the fact that times were changing and that the ineptitude shown by both the British and German high commands during the First World War were starting to change somewhat even though many were still caught up in the entire Old World social class thing. Many of the fighters, junior officers and NCOs where from solid middle class stock, practical and well grounded, as well as educated, rather than the rather effete, and frankly who were completely drained, by this time, thanks to the First World War, drained upper classes.

This is a good solid piece of popular history and is a very welcome addition to my library. I do recommend it highly for those that have an interest in this area and do recommend it for those who want a nice, not too technical account of one of the more important battles in our time.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks ( )

The First Major Victory

As Winston Churchill once proclaimed: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few." From a counterfactual perspective, the Allied victory in the Battle of Britain was perhaps the most important event in changing the course of history. If Hitler had succeeded in gaining air superiority, then successfully launching Operation Sea Lion to invade the British Isles, the geo-political reconfiguration would have tilted dramatically towards Hitler and the Nazis.

Michael Korda's new book is a refreshing overview of the major factors which allowed British to win the Battle of Britain. Reflecting historically, it is easy to point to the advantages of the British and the follies of the Luftwaffe, but it still doesn't take away from the background significance that led to those fateful decisions. Korda doesn't necessarily offer any new analysis, but rather he synthesizes much of the historiography and presents a clear above the clouds (pardon the pun) overview of the why.

Factually, much of the book's content is accurate. If there was one criticism it would be Korda's over-emphasis on the so-called "Miracle at Dunkirk" which wasn't really a miracle at all as Hitler at the time held out hope for a Nazi-British pact, certainly he could have destroyed the BEF had he really wanted to.

Korda highlights the major reasons why the British prevailed: airplane technology; the use of radar; ULTRA intelligence resulting from the decoding of enigma; Dowding's successful pinprick strategy and baiting the Nazis to bomb the cities instead of industry; and the reverse intention of increasing British morale instead of destroying it.

All in all, this a highly readable, well-researched, well-illustrated book about one of the most important battles in the history of World War II. Definitely recommend for anyone currently studying or wanting to learn more about the war. ( )

First, I'd like to say my speciality isn't aviation. That said, over the years I have read a few BoB classics, Deighton's "FIGHTER" and Collier, and more recently Overy's "Battle of Britain". I have just purchased, read and enjoyed With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain. I like Korda's writing, having purchased his Ike: An American Hero and Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero in the past. I thoroughly enjoyed "With Wings", especially his explanation of how Hugh Dowding put together Britain's very advanced air defense system and formulated an attritional strategy to defeat the Germans. I did not enjoy revisiting the shabby way in which Dowding was treated after the battle (reminds me of Joe Rochefort after Midway!). I look forward to seeing the experts Rudel & Shrike comments on this one.
An extremely readable book recommended by me. ( )