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The American "Knights of the Air" Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain
Da Capo Press
December 2006
On Sale: November 30, 2006
344 pages
ISBN: 0306813033
EAN: 9780306813030
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography | Historical
The never-before-told story of the American pilots-- idealists, adventurers, romantics--who joined the RAF before America entered the war in order to fight Hitler and save Britain By the summer of 1940 World War II had been under way for nearly a year. Hitler was triumphant and planning an invasion of England. But the United States was still a neutral country and, as Winston Churchill later observed, "the British people held the fort alone." A few Americans, however, did not remain neutral. They joined Britain's Royal Air Force to fight Hitler's air aces and help save Britain in its darkest hour. The Few is the never-before-told story of these thrill-seeking Americans who defied their country's neutrality laws to fly side-by-side with England's finest pilots. They flew the lethal and elegant Spitfire, and became "knights of the air." With minimal training and plenty of guts they dueled the skilled pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe in the blue skies over England. They shot down several of Germany's fearsome aces, and were feted as national heroes in Britain. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation. At war's end, just one of the "Few" would be alive. The others died flying, wearing the RAF's dark blue uniform-each with a shoulder patch depicting an American eagle. As Winston Churchill said, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
 Media BuzzTalk of the Nation - November 22, 2006
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