Spitfire Pilot: a Personal Account of the Battle of Britain

Spitfire Pilot: a Personal Account of the Battle of Britain by Dm Crook

'A brilliant first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot' - The Spectator The dramatic memoir of a WWII Spitfire pilot Recounts in close detail the thrill and horror of aerial combat during the Battle of Britain Written by an airman of the famed 609 Squadron Spitfire Pilot is the exhilarating and moving memoir of D. M. Crook, an airman in the legendary 609 Squadron - one of the most successful RAF units in the Battle of Britain.Beginning with his fond recollections of his halcyon days in training - acrobatics, night flying and languorous days spent playing sport and nights off visiting Piccadilly Circus - Crook goes on to recount in thrilling detail the dogfights, remarkable victories and tragic losses which formed the daily routine of Britain's heroic aerial defenders in that long summer of 1940. Often hopelessly outnumbered, the men of 609 Squadron in their state-of-the-art Spitfires committed acts of unimaginable bravery against the Messerschmitts and Junkers of Germany's formidable Luftwaffe. Many of Crook's fellow airmen did not make it back alive, and the absence they leave in the close-knit community of the squadron is described with great poignancy.Spitfire Pilot offers a unique and personal insight into one of the most critical moments of British history, when a handful of men stood up against the might of the German Air Force in defence of their country. This new edition, the first for more than sixty years, includes a new foreword by David Crook's daughter and Air Vice Marshal Sandy Hunter, Honorary Air Commodore of the 609 Squadron. The book also has an introduction by Professor Richard Overy, who has published extensively on the history of World War II. His books include The Air War, 1939-1945 and Dictators.

"'A brilliant first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot' - The Spectator"

Deirdre Raftery is a historian of education at University College Dublin, Ireland. A recent Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, UK, and a Life Member of the University of Cambridge, UK, she has written many books including Women and Learning in English Writing, 1600-1900 (1997), and (jointly) Emily Davies, Selected Letters (2002), and Female Education in Ireland, 1700-1900: Minerva or Madonna? (2005). She has also contributed chapters to Routledge books including The Routledge Companion to Education, and Routledge's new Introduction to the Study of Education (Routledge, forthcoming). She is joint editor of History of Education, and a member of the Executive Committee of the History of Education Society (UK).

David Crook joined Brunel University in 2011. Formerly a comprehensive secondary school teacher, he worked at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK, between 1994 and 2010, including periods as Course Leader for the MA in History of Education, Assistant Dean of Research and Consultancy and Head of the Educational Foundations and Policy Studies Department. He remains a Visiting Fellow of the Institute. His many publications include McCulloch, G. & Crook, D., The Routledge international encyclopedia of education (2008) and Crook, D.& McCulloch, G., History, politics and policy-making in education (Routledge 2007). He is joint editor of History of Education, and a member of the Executive Committee of the History of Education Society (UK).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781853677144
ISBN 10	1853677140
Title	Spitfire Pilot: a Personal Account of the Battle of Britain
Author	Dm Crook
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Greenhill Books
Year published	2006-08-08
Number of pages	208
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable