Author(s): Robert Verkaik

History

Praise for Jihadi John:
'An exemplary account . . . The book's most important contribution is to highlight the difficulties faced by the intelligence services . . . a first-class primer on Muslim extremism in Britain.'
Max Hastings, Sunday Times

'A riveting and compelling portrait of Mohammed Emwazi on his journey to the heart of darkness.'
Andrew Hosken, author of Empire of Fear: Inside the Islamic State

Praise for Posh Boys:
'The latest in the series of powerful books on the divisions in modern Britain, and will take its place on many bookshelves beside Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race and Owen Jones's Chavs.'
Andrew Marr, Sunday Times

'A trenchant j'accuse against the old-boy chumocracy . . . Posh Boys is, for a book about public schools, decidedly comprehensive.'
Guardian

'Inspired, committed, careful and kind.'
Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1%

The families of the R. A. F. servicemen killed flying Defiants believed that their husbands, brothers and sons had died in vain, but the truth is that their vital contribution to battle of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain has been erased from the official history. Robert Verkaik has uncovered new records, including top secret memos written by Hugh Dowding, the head of Fighter Command, combat reports, pilot logs and recordings of the last interviews with Defiant crews, as well as traced the relatives of Defiant pilots, to tell the story of the Battle of Britain as it has never been told before.

In 1940, when Britain was preparing to defend itself against the threatened Nazi invasion, the nation put its faith in three frontline fighter planes. Much has been written of the heroic feats and sacrifices of the R. A. F. pilots who took off in their Spitfires and Hurricanes against the larger Luftwaffe, but what of the third British fighter, the Boulton Paul Defiant?

Very little has been written about this fighter plane and the brave airmen who flew it. Instead, history has treated the aircraft as a military design failure and its participation in the battle as an unmitigated disaster, costing the lives of dozens of young pilots and gunners. But this official version of the Battle of Britain underplays the heroism of the airmen who flew the Boulton Paul Defiant against all the odds. It also fails to show how the Defiant was as much a victim of political in-fighting and mismanagement as it was of the much faster German Messerschmitts. But perhaps the greatest omission is the awkward fact that a Defiant squadron still holds the record for shooting down the highest number of enemy aicraft in one day. Many of the Defiant crews paid the ultimate price in achieving this success.

Following the quiet withdrawal of the Defiant from the frontline of the Battle of Britain on the 30th August, its story would not be allowed to mar the glorious victory won by the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Robert Verkaik reveals how the stories that have grown up around the Defiant mask some inconvenient truths.