The Most Dangerous Enemy

[NZKIWI]

Not a modelling subject , but a book I am thinking of buying , by Stephen Bungay , New to me , about the Battle of Britain . Has anybody read this , and can give an opinion on it ?

[Vicarage Vee]

It is a very good book indeed. Most scholarly, but very readable, and not a rehash of others' work. Personally, I would say it is now one of the seminal works on the Battle of Britain. (disclaimer: I am not in any way connected to Stephen Bungay or the sales of his book)

[Nick Millman]

One of the best, if not the best book on the battle.

Nick

[NZKIWI]

Wow , that was quick , and so firmly positive , thank you , your response is in a similar vein to others I have been given , they came from people I had not thought particularly interested in aircraft or The Battle .

[Ptmvarsityfan]

Very good book, I only read it a few weeks ago. Recommended.

Cheers, Paul

[JohnT]

Would entirely agree with the above comments.

[Troy Smith]

Bungay is interesting,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Bungay

was a management consultant, and did a thorough reassessment of the Battle, looking at a lot of the raw data that has come up. He also speaks German, and went through the Bundesachiv documents as well.

It's very good, and the conclusions and assessments are very interesting too, in particular how could the Germans have won the battle, and the consequences of having not won it as well.

Also, he notes that while the RAF squadrons often felt outnumbered when attacking large German formations, what the RAF units didn't know that those large formations were often being hit many times by different squadrons during a raid, immensely demoralising for the attackers, and that this was for the RAF a 'target rich environment' lessening the problems of friendly fire incidents, which is an interesting way of looking at this.

Highly recommended.

[NZKIWI]

Many thanks for the replies , book ordered .

[Eric Mc]

Read it a few years ago. Probably the best researched book on the Battle ever written.

[Dermo245]

Totally agree with everything said above. One to read (and re-read!)

Dermot

[davidelvy]

An excellent read,which gives a different perspective on the battle. Forget about German efficiency against plucky British amateurism. In many key respects the stereotypes were reversed.

[JimHead23]

A really excellent work. He makes reading of dry facts very interesting and the book is also accessable to people who do not have a particular interest in the subject as my Father would testify,

[nimrod54]

I am in the process of reading this and would agree with the above comments, a very readable account up to now. I can also recommend James Holland's Battle of Britain which I have just finished.

[AndyC]

Having read the reviews, I'll be buying it now and probably the sister publication on Alamein

[Ed Russell]

I have paraphrased his quote about a "bunch of amateurs up against a professional organisation" a few times.

I think his unusual background for it has made him an excellent historian and he writes very well.

I'd recommend his books.

[fightersweep]

Yes! I thoroughly recommend this book too! I've probably got almost every book written about the Battle of Britain and out of all of them, I have three firm favourites. Most Dangerous Enemy, Battle of Britain Then and Now, and Alfred Price's superb 18th August: The Hardest Day.

Buy with confidence.

Best regards;

Steve

[Av8fan]

All I can do is to echo & agree with the comments above.

[Solar Panel Phil]

I endorse all the favourable comments about this book - I bought it a few years ago after seeing Stephen's appearances on TV; a fascinating read and it clearly shows how much we are indebted to Dowding (for building the system before the war and running Fighter Command during the battle) and Park (for wielding 11 group so effectively in that battle). I've recently bought the Alamein book to see what new things I learn from that 1942 encounter!

[Mitch K]

I'm reading it at the moment - highly recommended.

[Darby]

Yes! I thoroughly recommend this book too! I've probably got almost every book written about the Battle of Britain and out of all of them, I have three firm favourites. Most Dangerous Enemy, Battle of Britain Then and Now, and Alfred Price's superb 18th August: The Hardest Day.

Buy with confidence.

Best regards;

Steve

I'll second the above on Alfred Price's 'The Hardest Day.' I've read it many a time and never tire of it.