Operation Sea Lion

Good as this book is, it could have been better. Invasion 1940 is a comprehensive overview of Germany's wartime plans to invade Britain. Fleming examines the German strategy, the British home front, the attitudes (and errors) of statesmen, as well as providing a broader historical account of Britain's preparations for invasion in previous conflicts. Fleming draws on a wide range of sources, both English and German, and has the great benefit of immediacy (the events took place only sixteen years before the book was written). Unfortunately, while Fleming's prose can often be witty and elegant, much of the book is less than clearly written. Too many workmanlike sentences pile subclause upon subclause, resulting in a syntactical labyrinth show more that obscures the writer's meaning. It seems wrong to say this about a book published by the great Rupert Hart-Davis, but I feel that Invasion 1940 would have benefited from more editorial attention. One feels that some literary retooling could even have elevated it to the status of a military classic. Despite this caveat, this book is still recommended as an authoritative account of a little-known episode in the Second World War. show less

Read during Summer 2005

Although it took a huge amount of time for me to read, this was actually a very enjoyable book. It is about the summer and early fall of 1940 when both Germany and Britain where bracing for an invasion. The details of what happened are fascinating, esp. as this was written not long after the war ended and has alot of recent memory to go on. There are facts and figures but it is hardly dry. Cartoons from Punch also liven it up but the writing style is very engaging.

An account of the German and British experiences of the end of the Phoney war 1939 up until early 1941.
I enjoyed this one. An easy to read and an insightful account from someone involved at the time.
A few laugh out loud moments when he covers the "Brit" reactions - I am a Brit so I know we really are that daft sometimes.

A lot of food for thought in particular when he explores the sequence of events starting with accidental German air-strikes in London leading to retaliation (pretty ineffectively) against Berlin which in turn lead Hitler to leave off his systematic annihilation of Fighter commands command and control structure to concentrate on London raids.

Its quite possible without this that the Battle of Britain may have gone another show more way - although Brit naval superiority made a landing by Germany far from an easy proposition.

Makes you realise how history sometimes turns on small things.

Overall a good read. show less

As could probably be implied by the title this is a rather long and drawn out historical description of the German plans for Sea Lion as well as the British response. There are some interesting facts and stories but overall it's a bit dry.

Peter Fleming was the brother of Ian Fleming. Before the war he was the famous brother, as the author of two best-selling travel books -- News from Tartary and Brazilian Adventure. His subsequent service was as the director of Allied deception efforts aimed at the Japanese.