Jane was a wartime phenomenon. A sensation. She was also an important feature in the morale of Britain's fighting forces around the world and to those left behind on the "Home Front". So important, in fact, that her fame extended to the House of Commons where one wartime MP referred to our troops as "Jane's fighting men!" Until now there has been no published study of Jane or the woman who inspired her. This book fills the gap with a publication which will have a wide appeal. In a producti...

A fascinating look at German planes that wound up in British territory during World War II, with photos.During the Second World War, a great many Luftwaffe aircraft arrived in the United Kingdom or its coastal waters, but, as with the famous flight of Rudolf Hess, not all of them through "conventional" combat circumstances. Some got lost; others were brought by defectors; some were lured through electronic countermeasures by the RAF; and others were brought down in...

This thrilling WWII biography tells the incredible true story of one of the Royal Air Force's greatest flying aces.During the Second World War, Flight lieutenant Richard Playne Stevens had an extraordinary career as a Royal Air Force nightfighter. His contemporaries called him Cat's Eyes for his rare ability to see in the dark, but after achieving a record-breaking fourteen victories in the skies—all without the aid of radar or another crew member—he earned the mon...

An "extraordinarily researched" account of a quest to find MIA fighter pilots decades after World War II (Barrett Tillman).1940: The air over Britain is filled with danger. Courageous and heroic men fly and fight, often sacrificing their lives to keep the nation free. Some of them will disappear into the summer sky without leaving a trace . . .This remarkable book records the lives of RAF pilots who were shot down and remained missing for decades—until dili...

A fascinating look at what might have happened had historical assassination attempts succeeded.If Hitler had died at any stage in the Second World War, would Germany have immediately sued for peace, or would the generals have taken over and fought a far more practical war than the obdurate Führer? Equally intriguing is the possible failed assassination attempt on General de Gaulle on British soil. Who, one wonders, was behind that scheme, and how would Anglo-French...

The true story of the recovery of a World War II plane shot down in France—and the effort to restore this historic aircraft.Spitfire is the fascinating story of the recovery of a Battle of France Spitfire Mk 1 from the sands of Calais during the early 1980s—and its subsequent return to the United Kingdom for rebuild and restoration to flying condition.The full history of the airframe from the factory to loss, the airplane's operational history with...

A follow-up to Finding the Few, this companion volume deals with the postwar discovery and recovery of wartime Luftwaffe aircrew who were downed and lost over the UK, most of them during 1940s. There is a lot of detective work involved here. Sometimes airmen have been identified with the tiniest clue, although each case has a common thread; they were all concluded by the diligent research of private individuals and researchers, many involving the author. Indeed, as a result of his work, Sa...

On 9 August 1941, one of the greatest icons of the Second World War, Douglas Bader, was shot down, captured and later incarcerated. But by whom, and how? Was it by one of his deadly German opponents, as Douglas Bader himself maintained, or was it by one of his own side? There has been much debate and controversy among historians and in 2003 the author of this book revealed for the first time that Bader may have been victim to friendly fire. That revelation was followed by interest in the n...

From the bestselling author of Apollo Remastered, a collection of hundreds of newly-restored images and untold stories from the NASA archives that provide a never-before-seen perspective on the critical missions that paved the way for the Moon landing and today's NASA, Boeing, and Space X endeavors.Astronauts working on the earliest space missions, from Project Mercury to the Gemini missions of the mid-1960s, answered fundamental questions about the possib...

Luftwaffe Bombers in the Blitz will comprise of some 140-150 images of German bomber aircraft during the Blitz of 1940-1941. The images will cover the entirety of the Blitz and will also depict losses across Britain during this period. Each picture will tell its own story, and will be fully captioned with historical detail. Each section will have a short introduction and the images will include those of shot down aircraft, including relatively intact machines, badly damaged/destroyed wreck...

The author of Finding the Few presents more stories of lost airmen and the dedicated detective work done to find them.Mysteries involving missing aircrew span almost the entire twentieth century. Starting with a reappraisal of the famed story of pilot Edward "Mick" Mannock, the author of this book highlights the fates of RAF, USAF, and Luftwaffe personnel from bomber, reconnaissance, and fighter crews.Each case is examined with a microscopic and fore...

In September 1946, the London Gazette published a despatch from Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh C T Dowding that was titled simply: The Battle of Britain. Written and submitted to the Air Ministry in 1941, this document became the very framework for the accepted Battle of Britain narrative which has been established across the following eighty years. Set out by the leader of the 'Few' himself, its authoritative tone could surely be considered a definitive outline of the battle, how it was fough...