Duel of Eagles : The Struggle for the Skies From the First World War to the Battle of Britain – Peter Townsend

R450.00

Dogfights in the sky, ruthless political maneuvers, legendary heroes of the air like Richthofen (the “Red Baron”) and Douglas Bader, this book combines all of these colorful, dramatic, and evocative accounts of the furious air conflicts that saved Britain from German invasion.
Review by Marcus :
Over last thirty years or so, military history books written or translated into English have constituted a major part of literature that I like to read. No matter how hard I try, I cannot recollect reading a book in that genre that seems as quintessentially ‘English’ as “Duel of Eagles”. Written only 30 years after the legend of Battle of Britain took shape, by a man who actually led one of RAF squadrons into battle against Luftwaffe, it is filled to brim by English patriotism, stiff upper lip and absolute and unreserved pride in the achievement of ‘the few’. And rightfully so!
The passion and emotional engagement of the author makes this volume into very engaging and surprisingly compassionate read. The human aspect of the story told in this book is very tangible, often painfully so. In my opinion therein lies the main strength of this book – the reader gets sincere, frequently uncomfortable insight into the psyche of the young men who did their best to kill each other in French and British skies that fateful summer of 1940. Sense of duty that drove them, exhilaration of combat and joy of surviving yet another day, constant fear of being maimed or burned to death, the utter exhaustion, sorrow over friends lost often in front of ones eyes and quite often pure disgust over the constant slaughter of both friend and foe – this odd mix of emotions is perfectly depicted by author and leaves a very poignant, lasting imprint on reader’s mind.
As so often is the case though, the strength of this book is also its greatest weakness. The strong feelings of the author get in the way of providing a truely objective analysis of the ‘big picture’. In this respect, the book clearly retells the ‘lore’ of Battle of Britain rather than its history. If the reader is interested in ‘proper’ analysis of early history of RAF and Luftwaffe and especially the operational analysis of Battle of Britain, it must be said that there is a multitude of better choices that this volume. “Duel of Eagles” should be regarded as what it is – a beautiful and thoughtful acknowledgement of bravery and ultimate sacrifice of young men wasted in a deadly conflict that never should have happened in the first place.
Hardcover. Internally fresh, clean and crisp pages, tightly bound, beautiful dust wrapper, this book has been rad but it is Like New

In stock

SKU: 9780785815686 Category: Title: Duel of Eagles : The Struggle for the Skies From the First World War to the Battle of Britain
Author: Peter Townsend
Publisher: Booksales
Year: 2003
ISBN10: 0785815686
ISBN13: 9780785815686
Condition: Mint
Format: Hardcover
Inventory No: 1392

Description

Dogfights in the sky, ruthless political maneuvers, legendary heroes of the air like Richthofen (the “Red Baron”) and Douglas Bader, this book combines all of these colorful, dramatic, and evocative accounts of the furious air conflicts that saved Britain from German invasion.
Review by Marcus :
Over last thirty years or so, military history books written or translated into English have constituted a major part of literature that I like to read. No matter how hard I try, I cannot recollect reading a book in that genre that seems as quintessentially ‘English’ as “Duel of Eagles”. Written only 30 years after the legend of Battle of Britain took shape, by a man who actually led one of RAF squadrons into battle against Luftwaffe, it is filled to brim by English patriotism, stiff upper lip and absolute and unreserved pride in the achievement of ‘the few’. And rightfully so!
The passion and emotional engagement of the author makes this volume into very engaging and surprisingly compassionate read. The human aspect of the story told in this book is very tangible, often painfully so. In my opinion therein lies the main strength of this book – the reader gets sincere, frequently uncomfortable insight into the psyche of the young men who did their best to kill each other in French and British skies that fateful summer of 1940. Sense of duty that drove them, exhilaration of combat and joy of surviving yet another day, constant fear of being maimed or burned to death, the utter exhaustion, sorrow over friends lost often in front of ones eyes and quite often pure disgust over the constant slaughter of both friend and foe – this odd mix of emotions is perfectly depicted by author and leaves a very poignant, lasting imprint on reader’s mind.
As so often is the case though, the strength of this book is also its greatest weakness. The strong feelings of the author get in the way of providing a truely objective analysis of the ‘big picture’. In this respect, the book clearly retells the ‘lore’ of Battle of Britain rather than its history. If the reader is interested in ‘proper’ analysis of early history of RAF and Luftwaffe and especially the operational analysis of Battle of Britain, it must be said that there is a multitude of better choices that this volume. “Duel of Eagles” should be regarded as what it is – a beautiful and thoughtful acknowledgement of bravery and ultimate sacrifice of young men wasted in a deadly conflict that never should have happened in the first place.
Hardcover. Internally fresh, clean and crisp pages, tightly bound, beautiful dust wrapper, this book has been rad but it is Like New

Additional information

Weight 0.95 kg
Dimensions 23.7 × 16.6 × 4.4 cm

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