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Spitfire Ace [Audiobook] [Hardcover]

Martin Davidson (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Hardcover --   -- --
Hardcover, Audiobook, Mar 4 2005 --   -- --
Paperback CDN $14.23   -- --
Audio, Cassette, Audiobook --   -- --

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Product Description

Book Description

The Battle of Britain, 1940, was one of the most famous air battles in the history of warfare and it is a story of ruthless organisation, brilliant control and command. But at its heart is one particular figure, a legend ever since - the RAF fighter pilot. And one particular plane - a piece of machinery that has almost mythic historical glamour - the Supermarine Spitfire.

Spitfire Ace reintroduces the few that flew in the Battle of Britain and includes interviews with many of the surviving veteran Spitfire pilots. Combined with a historical narrative of the events surrounding the Battle of Britain, you will learn for the first time what it was really like to fly a Spitfire and to experience combat flying at its most visceral.

About the Author

Martin Davidson is one of Britain’s leading television producers, specializing in history and arts programmes. He was the executive produce of Channel 4’s series Spitfire Ace and is the author of three other books: The Consumerist Manifesto (Routledge 1990); Decisive Weapons (BBC Books 1996); and A Visitor’s Guide to a History of Britain (BBC Books 2002). James Taylor is a writer and television researcher. He joined RDF Media in 2001, where has worked on a broad range of series including Spitfire Ace and Carthage: The Roman Holocaust.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A fine production, but look for the "Spitfire Ace" television series instead, July 14 2008
By 
This review is from: Spitfire Ace (Hardcover)
I was disappointed when the discs arrived, due to my own stupidity. I thought I had ordered the excellent production of "Spitefire Ace", the four part Discovery series that aired 2004. Noticed the 'audio CD' on Amazon's title only after the fact. Oops.

The narrative is well done, and the information is a good overview of this great moment in history. The majority of the overview is put forward through several pilot's and ground crew's memoirs which give an excellent first hand account feel, and also adds the human realities of the period and of flying and maintaining that beautiful machine we are all so nuts about, the Spitfire.

However, it is disappointing the pilot's and ground crew's accounts are not in their own words, but instead 'character voices' are used - one of which is aggravatingly over the top, or stereotypical in the case of the German pilot depicted.

Having watched several parts of the "Spitfire Ace" series that created the original interviews with the pilots and ground crews, it makes me wonder why these weren't inserted in the audio CD? It would have added so much. Also, the narrator in the series describes (I believe, working from memory) what are basically the same historical situations narrated in the audio CD; except the series has, again, the added advantage of top notch, excellently restored, accompanying historical footage.

In summary, it is my opinion the audio CDs are very good as an introduction for someone who has not already read, or know the general historic framework, about the Battle of Britain and the Spitfire. For those who do, I would suggest finding the television series this audio product is based upon instead, because once you see the series you will be disappointed that you bought what is basically the lesser audio version (and minus the accounts of the four chaps vying to learn to fly the prize). The series also has more focus on flying in that period, and especially learning to fly the Spitfire. Moreover, the interviews with the actual individuals add such a wonderful further dimension of reality, and make a fitting and honourable thank you to those men who flew and maintained aircraft during the Battle of Britain (and on).

I have searched (and searched) for the DVD production, but no luck. However individual episodes can be found online, and all four parts of the series as torrents. The series is bloooody gorgeous!
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Amazon.com: 4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The Battle of Britain Then and Now!, Oct 13 2009
By Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Spitfire Ace (Hardcover)
This interesting volume, published by England's Channel 4 Books, revisits the Battle of Britain but with a twist. Sparked by an encounter with a two-seat Spitfire, television producer Martin Davidson decided to create a TV show featuring two young English lads who would undergo the pilot training received by their contemporaries back in 1940. That experiment, in turn, led Davidson and James Taylor to research the Battle of Britain with particular emphasis on those surviving Spitfire aces who flew in the Battle. SPITFIRE ACE is the story of those intertwining threads.

The bulk of SPITFIRE ACE is given over to the BoB. The authors detail the history of the RAF in the 1930s, its organization, the commanders who led it in the successful repulse of the Luftwaffe in 1940, RAF training and equipment, the development of radar, the birth of the Spit and the Hurricane, etc. Included in this are lengthy reminiscences by RAF pilots like Bob Doe, Nigel Rose, Peter Brothers, Gerald Stapleton, George Unwin, Billy Drake and Allan Wright that provide an insider's view of that important period of history. Around all that is woven descriptions of the selection of four Englishmen, the willowing down of the four to two and then one, personal comments by the four and so on.

The Battle of Britain has been written about endlessly. SPITFIRE ACE presents a pretty standard history of the Battle and preceding events; no new revelations here. Its main strength is the comments from the pilots and groundcrew which put a very human face on those long-ago events. The Channel 4 "competition," by contrast, is pretty straightforward, interesting but not as much as the BoB material.

The book features dozens of vintage and contemporary b&w and color photographs, maps and diagrams.

In short, SPITFIRE ACE is an appealing and unique combination of Royal Air Force history then-and-now. Recommended.
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