Spitfire: A Very British Love Story

Product Information

The vignettes are an interesting approach to the book. Because the narrative doesn't follow a specific squadron or pilot, there is a lot of jumping around in short sections. There are a number of pilots who make multiple appearances as their stories, locations, etc. follow the flow of the book. Usually the vignettes are specific mission experiences or thoughts about the war experience pulled from their letters or diaries. While maybe a bit disjointed, there are some great war stories and it does allow you to read it in small chunks (which is why it took me a while!).

John Nichol's book tells the stories of dozens of pilots, both men and women, and the sacrifices they made during the war. It's finely balanced between the technical side and development of the Spit, and the personal accounts of the pilots, many now in their 90s. In parts, it's incredibly moving, especially when you think many of these pilots were under twenty when they first took to the skies.Spitfire' was a book depicting the everyday struggles of WWII for the brave pilots who would be forced to handle the spitfire on a heroic route to the nazis. While not incredibly clear in the beginning of the book, Nichol’s follows several former Spitfire pilots throughout the book using their experiences and stories to bring life and love to the story as well as connect his chapters. Upon introduction to each of these pilots, there is always the line “and that’s when he knew he wanted to fly fighters,” and sadly by the tenth time it gets monotonous and gives a slow, repetitive start to the book.

Nevertheless, no matter how good the book may seem, it has some negatives. The stories are from first-hand accounts from those who flew it during WWII, which means that the book instead provides a primitive history of the spitfire instead of diving too deeply into it. However, unlike many similarly formatted books, this one gives accounts of people outside of England and through the subsequent campaigns in Malta, North Africa, Italy, France etc. This makes it stand out from nearly every other one of these books. Though it is assumed that ‘Spitfire’ came from the aeroplane’s awesome firing capabilities, it was also an Elizabethan word that meant someone who had a fiery character. The names Snipe and Shrew were also considered for the plane. Thankfully they went with Spitfire! This is no ordinary history book. This is no run-of-the-mill, over done book on a very famous plane. This is a book which shines a light into the soul of the Spitfire: it tells the story of the people.

Contact Us

I would've wished more some sort of technical analysis or something more tangible than "everyone loved the plane, it was easy to fly". There were some parts where the plane and it's variants were compared to German ME109(variants) and FW190, but I would've liked more and especially to other allied aircraft. A love story indeed. It pays homage to the men and women who designed the Spitfire, built her, maintained her and flew her — as well as to the Spitfire herself. The Spitfire was more than an aircraft. It was a symbol of hope, of courage and resilience, and became a legend. With its elliptic wings, it was easily recognisable in the wartime skies and became an icon, giving hope to those Allies civilians watching below. It inspired kids watching to become fighter pilots — on Spitfires. It helps perhaps that author John Nichol was one of the Tornado pilots shot down over Iraq in the first Gulf War and paraded before the world’s media. He can therefore empathise closely with his fellow pilots, and understand their very mixed emotions. This means the book avoids being gung ho or jingoistic. There is no little Englander nonsense. It is a very quiet tribute to ordinary people forced by circumstances into undertaking extraordinary acts, helped by an extraordinary aircraft. Nichol is also a very skilled writer, giving a real sense of engagement, building tension and excitement when required, but also sensitive where appropriate. The story starts with the initial design deriving from racing seaplanes in the 30s, through production difficulties in West Bromwich. With the outbreak of war, spitfires see service over Dunkirk, of course in the Battle of Britain but then in Malta, North Africa, over Occupied Europe, in Malaya, and even as part of the Soviet Air Force. The Spitfire continues to be a very popular aircraft, with approximately 55 Spitfires still being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums all over the world including here in the USA. It is even possible to take spitfire flights at three locations in the UK, with Spitfire experience flights for non-pilots and Spitfire flight training for pilots available. You can see more with regard to this on the Spitfires blog article about spitfire rideshere. I’ve seen the Spitfire in flight twice now and it was an amazing sight – can’t wait to see it again.