Dowding of Fighter Command: Victor of the Battle of Britain | 
| Author: Vincent Orange
Publisher: Grub Street
Category: Book
List Price: £20.00
Buy New: £13.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 18110
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1906502145
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9781906502140
ASIN: 1906502145
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Vincent Orange is a master of his craft. October 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I confess to some bias as I've read several of Vincent Orange's books on the senior Royal Air Force Commanders of World War II, in particular his book on Sir Keith Park. This can be seen as a companion volume and it is very good indeed. Striking a happy balance between the reader who has no previous knowledge of Air-Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, head of Fighter Command, during the Battle of Britain and those academics like myself who are already great admirers'. Whilst this is not the first full-length biography of Dowding, that honour goes to Basil Colliers' book "Leader of the Few" published in 1957, it certainly is the most thorough, and covers aspects and periods of Dowding's life not touched by other authors, who mainly concentrate on the Battle of Britain period.
I do have one or two criticisms, firstly certain important events in Dowding's life could perhaps have been covered in more depth, I highlight his continuing problems with "Boom" Trenchard, and in particular his struggle to gain a permanent commission in the R.A.F. after the Great War. More importantly Dowding's life after 1945 and his second marriage in 1951 and his views on Spiritulism and his fight together with his wife again cruelty to animals, but these are small points. My biggest niggle however is the fact the numbered references are all listed to the rear of the book and not after each chapter, this gets tiresome after a while.
But the book is a facinating read and I recommend it to everybody.
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