Spitfire, Leo McKinstry
Spitfire, Leo McKinstry
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
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Spitfire
Portrait of a Legend

Author: Leo McKinstry

Narrator: Peter Noble

Unabridged: 19 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: John Murray

Published: 04/26/2018


Synopsis

The gripping saga of the plane that carried Britain through the Second World War.

In June 1940, the German Army had brought the rest of Europe to its knees. 'Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world will move forward into broad, sunlit uplands,' said Churchill. The future of Europe depended on Britain.

A self-confident Herman Göring thought that it would be only a matter of weeks before his planes had forced Britain to surrender. The courage, resourcefulness and brilliant organisation of the RAF were to prove him wrong. By late September 1940, the RAF had proved invincible, thanks to the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire. It exceeded anything that any other air force possessed. RJ Mitchell, a shy and almost painfully modest engineer, was the genius behind the Spitfire. On the 5th March 1936, following its successful maiden flight, a legend was born.

Prize-winning historian Leo McKinstry's vivid history of the Spitfire brings together a rich cast of characters and first hand testimonies. It is a tale full of drama and heroism, of glory and tragedy, with the main protagonist the remarkable plane that played a crucial role in saving Britain.

(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

About Leo McKinstry

Leo McKinstry has been a successful, high-profile writer for almost three decades, winning praise for his fluent style, his range of subjects and his diligent research. He is the author of twelve non-fiction books, including a trilogy on the RAF during the Second World War, several football and cricket biographies, two of which won the WHSmith Sports Book of the Year awards, and a study of the 19th century Liberal Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, which was named as the Channel Four Political Book of the Year in 2006. He is also a national newspaper journalist. Since 2005 he has been a twice-weekly columnist on the Daily Express, while he has been a feature writer on the Daily Mail for 27 years. His articles have also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Independent, The Spectator, The Oldie, New Statesman and The Cricketer.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Danny on December 22, 2018

TALLY-HO! Wait that's a call into battle... If the rate at which I added Leo Mckinstry's Hurricane book to my lists after starting this book doesn't tell it clearly enough I'll put it in words, I'm a huge fan. It's researched as well as some of the paleo reads I've sunk into this year but it's a totall......more

Goodreads review by Russ on July 05, 2012

very interesting read, full of little details that expose a few minor myths (about the times, the people, the war and the Spitfire) but enhance the legend......more

Goodreads review by Peter on February 20, 2025

I was a bit of wary of this book as I thought it would be devoted to a lot of technical and engineering detail as to how the Spitfire was designed and built and then how each of the variants came to be in similar style. Instead, this book was a thoroughly engrossing biography of the Spitfire from it......more

Goodreads review by Brian on December 11, 2022

Audiobook, just under 20 hrs. Well researched and well read by the narrator! Includes a lot of detail on the key players in the Spitfire's development, and the personal suffering and sacrifice typically not told in many other historical works. This covers the politics, the friends and adversaries wo......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on February 12, 2017

The production of Spitfires before ww2 was a shambles. Government, plane manufacturers, and armed forces squabbles were all to blame. A prototype could have been flying in 1934, which would have altered the whole shape of pre-war politics. Political support for aviation was poor until it was underst......more