Being there . . . . for one of three volumes of the most unique, nay, unequaled, matchless series
to emerge from the pool of thousands upon thousands of World War II books published since
- “ATTACK of the EAGLES – – Battle of Britain, 13 August 1940 – 18 August 1940” by Dilip
Sarkar MBE FRHistS FRAeS, in association with the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust CIO, is
essentially Volume 3 of an unprecedented hardcover collection published by the legendary
military Air World/Pen & Sword Books LTD company. You’ll meet the enormously popular
supreme literary author on the life and death fight for Britain, Dilip Sarkar, who penned, “Battle
of Britain” – Volume 1: ‘The Gathering Storm – – Prelude to the Spitfire Summer of 1940’;
Volume 2, “Battle of Britain” – ‘The Breaking Storm – – 10 July 1940 – 12 August 1940.’ These
three volumes, singly or as a trio, may well be the best of over 70 of his inordinately
commended books authored. Highly, highly recommended by this reviewer, “Battle of Britain –
ATTACK of the EAGLES – – 13 August 1940 to 18 August 1940”, of all the WWII titles recently
published for the Yuletide Season of Joy, is surely the best last-minute gift to friend and yourself
as you both begin your adventures into 2025.
“ATTACK of the EAGLES – – Battle of Britain, 13 August 1940 – 18 August 1940”, by Dilip Sarkar
MBE FRHistS FRAeS, in Association With the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust CIO. Air World, an
imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Yorkshire – Philadelphia, distributed in the U.S. by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS: 2024, 269 pages, hardcover, 6 ¼” x 9 ½”, appropriately photo
illustrated, $49.95. Visit, www.penandswordbooks.com ; Email, uspen-and-
sword@casematepublishers.com.
Reviewed and triple highly recommended by Don DeNevi
It was a time of enormously calm bravery and courage for the truly magnificent military and
general population of the demi-paradise islands of Great Britain. Hitler’s assembled Juggernaut,
a massive inexorable force that had been advancing irresistibly, crushing whatever was in its
path, was poised along the French-Belgium coasts to not only set that half-garden of Eden
ablaze, but obliterate its human beings, if they did not welcome absolute NAZI dictatorship.
Yes, Britain stood temporarily all alone, a perfect moment in world history for invasion and the
unleashing of the “Adolf, the Murder Machine” that had perfected the art of slaughter and
destruction, especially systematic killing.
But first, it meant that the evil son-of-a-gun had to rule the Heavens above the proud,
defiant island nation state. Six days in mid-August, the 13 th through the 18 th , the fledgling roles
of staffs amid Bomber and Coastal Commands, in addition to “the Fable Few of Fighter
Command” led by the still-underappreciated Chief Hugh Dowding, were at work preparing for
the pending German. Meanwhile, it was rumored that the pilots on one particular airfield, after
a day of repeated Luftwaffe assaults, assembled on their main runway, dropped their aviator
pants, showed their a-double-ss’s while waving middle-fingers to the Fuhrer who would dare
rule them. OK, OK, neither poetic or narrative-pleasing, but certainly crude, rude, and gutterish
enough to bring a smile to most male Brits. Yes, so deliciously, defyingly, guttery gratifying!
13 August 1940 was Adlertag, “Eagle Day”, for Hitler, Goering, and the Luftwaffe, the day all
three determined would be the day the Royal Air Force would be shot out of the British skies,
once and for all. The day before, Portsmouth and British radar stations had been severely
bombed, suggesting the Phony War, up to that day since war was declared by Great Britain 3
September 1939, was entering its final stage: Britain was to be bombed into smithereens, come
hell or highwater. By noon on the 13 th , the mildly incessant German bombing offensive began in
earnest against most British airfields and aircraft factories. Two days later, on the morning of
the 15 th , the heaviest air battles of the Battle of Britain were reaching their peak. On the 17 th
Hitler declared total blockade of the British Isles. Three days later, Churchill delivered one of his
most famous speeches, “Never in the field of human conflict . . .” Three days after that, the
Fuhrer, furious Winnie and the brave people of Britain refused to capitulate, had his Luftwaffe
unload tons of Germany’s most destructive bombs on central London.
The literature of the Battle of Britain has been evolving since the end of World War II in
Europe. In fact, its rate of growth appears undiminished by the passage of time, thanks to great
writers such as the brilliant Dilip Sarkar, especially him, since he is the most reliable and
respected historian, among others, within the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust Cio. His three
volumes are likely to be honored by future historians as the best comprehensively woven
accounts as the best ever of the epic air war over beautiful Britain.
