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Book Cover for: The Few: The American Knights of the Air Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain, Alex Kershaw

The Few: The American Knights of the Air Who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain

Alex Kershaw

From the author of national bestsellers The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter comes "a rousing tale of little-known heroes" (Booklist).
The Few tells the dramatic and unforgettable story of eight young Americans who joined Britain's Royal Air Force, defying their country's neutrality laws and risking their U.S. citizenship to fight side-by-side with England's finest pilots in the summer of 1940-over a year before America entered the war. Flying the lethal and elegant Spitfire, they became "knights of the air" and with minimal training but plenty of guts, they dueled the skilled and fearsome pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation. Winston Churchill once said of all those who fought in the Battle of Britain, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." These daring Americans were the few among the "few." Now, with the narrative drive and human drama that made The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter national bestsellers, Alex Kershaw tells their story for the first time.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
  • Publish Date: Aug 28th, 2007
  • Pages: 360
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.88in - 5.95in - 0.94in - 0.92lb
  • EAN: 9780306815720
  • Categories: Wars & Conflicts - World War II - GeneralMilitary - Aviation & SpaceEurope - Great Britain - 20th Century

About the Author

Alex Kershaw is the author of the widely acclaimed bestsellers The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, The Few, and Escape from the Deep, among others. He lives in Massachusetts.

Praise for this book

"A powerful reminder of the human cost of war."
"The true story that inspired Saving Private Ryan."
"A moving story of uncommon valor." -- James Bradley
"A heroic, inspiring story that deserves to be told."
"Few books describe the costs of war so soberly and so vividly."
"The poignant story of twenty-one young men... who died in the D-Day invasion."