Paul Tweddle

Going into this book, considering the publisher, I thought that there was an even chance that I'd finish it feeling unsatisfied, even if the topic interested me, and such turned out to be the case. Though the author appears to have done his footwork, and his narrative strengthens the further one goes on, I really can't recommend this book to anyone else. The single biggest issue is that Tweddle is mostly performing hagiography rather than analysis, so there are known issues of strategy, leadership and technology that he really isn't getting to grips with; you're just getting one damn thing after another.

Two, whoever turned Tweedle's manuscript into a book, meaning the publisher, really did the man no favors. The bibliographic apparatus is rudimentary, the book would have benefited from having a chronology and order of battle tables and, most damning, there is no index whatsoever, rendering the work useless as a research reference.

Going forward in regards to studying this campaign, I might find myself looking at Pen & Sword's series dealing with the groups of RAF Bomber Command. Also, one Garry Campion has produced a de facto trilogy about the history of remembrance of the Battle of Britain that seems well regarded. I'll also be hoping that Osprey fills the appropriate gaps in their "Combat Aircraft" and "Air Campaign" series.… (meer)