I have both editions fo the above book, in my opinion it is probably the most complete reference work that there is on the Supermarine Spitfire and all its variants.
It covers the operational history and the fate of every airframe, obviously current to the date of publication. There is no other reference work that comes close as far as I can see.
That the Supermarine Spitfire has become the stuff of legend is without doubt, from a historical perspective it ticks all the boxes. The right aircraft at the right time and most importantly, with the right people. The R.A.F. aircrew who were prepared to step up to the line – “the few” without whom there could be no Legend of the Spitfire, no Legend of The Battle of Britain and possibly no free Europe.
The few are recognised as the aircrew, they couldn’t have funtioned as effectively without the many supporting them. They were a generation of British, probably beyond compare – who gave more than anyone had a right to ask of them.
The Legend that was Britains defensive shield, forged in the blood and grit of less than 3000 young men from sixteen different nations flying many aircraft types, has over the years been focused on the Spitfire – yet there was so much more than just the aeroplane.
Although we tend to equate the Legend with the Spitfire there were a great many other contributions to the victory in the Battle of Britain, the people, the technology, the aircraft and so many other things. When the then Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave the speech mentioning the few, it was done knowing that what he could say was limited for security reasons.
There was no way he could mention radar or the situation rooms or probably a hundred other things that contributed to the victory, but he could mention the aircrews. With an average age of 20, they blunted the tip of the Luftwaffe spear – the aircrews of the Luftwaffe who were not so different from their counterparts in the R.A.F.