num_pages: 410
description: In 2018 the RAF is one hundred years old. In his new book destined to be a classic Patrick Bishop examines the high point of its existence  the Second World War when the Air Force saved the nation from defeat then led the advance to victory.A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERAir warfare was a terrible novelty of the modern age requiring a new military outlook. From the beginning the RAFs identity set it apart from the traditional services. It was innovative flexible and comparatively meritocratic advancing the quasi-revolutionary idea that competence was more important than background.The Air Force went into the war with inadequate machines training and tactics and the early phase was littered with setbacks and debacles. Then in the summer of 1940 in full view of the population Fighter Command won one of the decisive battles of the struggle. Thereafter the RAF was gilded with an aura of success that never tarnished going on to make a vital contribution to Allied victory in all theatres.Drawing from diaries letters memoirs and interviews Air Force Blue captures the nature of combat in the skies over the corrugated wastes of the Atlantic the sands of the Western Desert and the jungles of Burma. It also brings to life the intensely lived dramas romances friendships and fun that were as important a part of the experience as the fighting.Air Force Blue portrays the spirit of the RAF  its heart and soul  during its finest hours. It is essential reading for the millions in Britain and the Commonwealth whose loved ones served and for anyone who wants to understand the Second World War.
language: English
title: Air Force Blue: The RAF in World War Two - Spearhead of Victory
publisher: William Collins