Book Reviews

摘要

Anthony dimming was awarded a PhD in History at the University of Plymouth in 2006 and won the Julian Corbett Prize for Research in Modern Naval History from the University of London in the same year. His important new book, published by the Naval Institute Press, makes a valuable contribution to understanding the events of the crisis summer of 1940 and the reasons why they were portrayed as they were by politicians. Cumming develops his arguments with sensitivity and clarity to prove that, however gallant its aircrew, Fighter Command of the Royal Air Force did not prevent the Germans from invading Britain, nor could it have done so alone. The unlikely myth that it did has continued to grow, however, to the point where it is generally accepted that the gallant 'Few' in their Spitfires defeated an immediate and credible threat of German invasion with little help from the other armed forces or the wider civilian population.