I found this book to be quite a captivating read。 I was familiar with the battle in broader terms after watching numerous documentaries， but I was unaware of many of the details that were covered in this book。 Not being British， I wasn’t familiar with the perception of the Churchill family in the years leading up to the war and how this may have affected their trust， or lack thereof， of Winston。 Another interesting detail was how the Germans circumvented the Treaty of Versailles to prepare young I found this book to be quite a captivating read。 I was familiar with the battle in broader terms after watching numerous documentaries， but I was unaware of many of the details that were covered in this book。 Not being British， I wasn’t familiar with the perception of the Churchill family in the years leading up to the war and how this may have affected their trust， or lack thereof， of Winston。 Another interesting detail was how the Germans circumvented the Treaty of Versailles to prepare young pilots for battle by sending small groups to the USSR and by cultivating an interest in gliders， which were not prohibited in the treaty。 These are just a few examples of the interesting facts one wouldn’t hear in a documentary about the battle。 They added a lot to the overarching story and established a foundation for the battle itself。The information about Air Marshall Dowding was interesting。 The author mentions how much more credit he deserves for standing up to Churchill during the fall of France at Dunkirk。 I would have liked a little more background about him， as he played such a pivotal role in the battle。 Still， his critical decisions are made clear in the book。I appreciated the details about the principle planes used in the battle， particularly my most beloved plane of all time， the ME 109 （not the best plane， but it looks cool）。 This book in many ways brought me back to my youth， when I built model planes of the most famous aircraft of the war。 In his book， the leading Japanese ace， Saburo Sakai， mentioned the key weakness of the 109 – its lack of range。 This book goes into detail about these strengths and weaknesses without being overly academic。 Other key aircraft are given realistic reviews， including the often-overlooked Hurricane， which plays second fiddle to the Spitfire， beautiful feline that she is。In conclusion， this book is a quick read filled with fun facts about the key players， equipment， and general fighting spirit of the people， which boosted the morale of the pilots and crews。 As an American， I appreciated the author’s explanation in the Conclusion of the public's general aversion to entering the war stemming from the horrors of WWI， and the influence of the battle’s success on building support for the British war effort on this side of the pond。 It’s very well written and avoids viewing a complex situation through a simplistic lens。This would be a great gift for historians， lovers of aviation， and anyone who appreciates a story that adds fascinating details to a topic that many may feel they already know。Well done！-JP Lane， author of The Driftwood Tour。 。。。more