Spitfire: A Very British Love Story, book review. (John Nichol)

Reading non-fiction tends to fall into two categories for me, historic and military and well, this book happened to fall into both, so I had high hopes.

Knowing a fare bit about the Supermarine Spitfire from past exploits into factual books and visits to museums around the country, I was hoping that this would be more than a history lesson and I wasn’t disappointed.

This book is very much about the war in which the Spitfire is so famously known and the constant improvements the aircraft gained through its many different variants, but it’s also about the people who lived, worked, flew and died in and around the influential sphere that this most famous of aircraft created, many of whom the author interviewed for the book and whose tails of valour and heroism – although they never saw it that way - brings tears to the eyes.

Being written chronologically the reading is quickly immersed in the fiercely fought Battle of Britain before the narrative takes you to the heat of Malta and Africa and on through Italy, Europe and Asia all whilst new marks of Spitfire are developed and delivered to those theatres of war, and it is with great interest that we find out from those who flew and fought in them, how those improvements changed, not only the outcome of battle but buoyed the pilot’s confidence in the air.

One particular stand out incident is recalled by Alan Peart, an Australian pilot flying a Mk VIII over Burma and is told in such a way that you really are there, in the cockpit, twisting, turning, sweating, fearing that this is your last, and having seen his wingman and commanding officer downed and surrounded by no less than twenty Japanese pilots baying for his blood, the action is relentless. In contrast and with no enemy but mother nature, what at first appeared to be a simple ferry flight for Mary Ellis, quickly turned into a life threatening situation when the weather closed in - female pilots were never taught to fly on instruments so were only ever supposed to fly in good visibility -  but with luck and skill she managed a safe landing and was back in the air almost immediately, Along with so many others, Alan Peart and Mary Ellis are the backbone of this book and are why this aeroplane, the Supermarine Spitfire, has become so synonymous with allied victory in World War II.

This book is about so much more than just an aeroplane - albeit one of the most recognisable and well-regarded aeroplanes ever to have been built - it is about people. These who flew them, serviced them, designed and maintain them to this day but above all, it is about those who lost their lives whilst defending freedom, and for that, this book is a truly excellent read and comes highly recommended.

Four and a Half Stars.

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