{"title":"Books by Douglas C. Dildy","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781472839183","title":"To Defeat the Few","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis history, based on an exhaustive study of German records, explores The Battle of Britain through the eyes of the Luftwaffe.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver the past 80 years, histories of the Battle of Britain have consistently portrayed the feats of ‘The Few’ (as they were immortalized in Churchill’s famous speech) as being responsible for the RAF’s victory in the epic battle. However, this is only part of the story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe results of an air campaign cannot be measured in terms of territory captured, cities occupied or armies defeated, routed or annihilated. Successful air campaigns are those that achieve their intended aims or stated objectives. Victory in the Battle of Britain was determined by whether the Luftwaffe achieved its objectives. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Luftwaffe, of course, did not, and this detailed and rigorous study explains why. Analysing the battle in its entirety in the context of what it was – history’s first independent offensive counter-air campaign against the world’s first integrated air defence system – Douglas C. Dildy and Paul F. Crickmore set out to re-examine this remarkable conflict.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePresenting the events of the Battle of Britain in the context of the Luftwaffe’s campaign and RAF Fighter Command’s battles against it, this title is a new and innovative history of the battle that kept alive the Allies’ chances of defeating Nazi Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300137513333,"sku":"9781472839183","price":30.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472839183_e888f75c-ccc6-49e2-888b-3de83788d75d.jpg?v=1786020719"},{"product_id":"9781472846761","title":"German and Italian Aircraft Carriers of World War II","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis fully illustrated study details Germany and Italy’s failed development of World War II aircraft carriers, and the naval aviation ships that the two Axis powers sent into action in their place.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe quest for a modern aircraft carrier was the ultimate symbol of the Axis powers’ challenge to Allied naval might, but fully-fledged carriers proved either too difficult, expensive or politically unpopular for either to make operational. After the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Hitler publicly stated his intention to build an aircraft carrier, the \u003ci\u003eGraf Zeppelin\u003c\/i\u003e, which was launched in 1938. A year later, the ambitious fleet-expansion Z-Plan, was unveiled with two additional aircraft carriers earmarked for production . However, by the beginning of World War II, \u003ci\u003eGraf Zeppelin\u003c\/i\u003e was not yet completed and work was halted. Further aircraft carrier designs and conversion projects such as the ocean liner \u003ci\u003eEuropa\u003c\/i\u003e and heavy cruiser \u003ci\u003eSeydlitz \u003c\/i\u003ewere considered but\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e in January 1943, all construction work on surface vessels ceased and naval resources were diverted to the U-boat Campaign.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book explains not only the history of Germany’s famous \u003ci\u003eGraf Zeppelin\u003c\/i\u003e fleet carrier and German carrier conversion projects but also Italy’s belated attempt to convert two of her ocean liners into carriers. It considers the role of naval aviation in the two countries’ rearmament programmes and describes how ultimately it was only Italian seaplane carriers and German ocean-going, catapult-equipped flying boat carriers that both Axis powers did eventually send into combat.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300143837557,"sku":"9781472846761","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472846761_76583580-3d67-434d-aa52-2d674329727c.jpg?v=1786020860"},{"product_id":"9781472818898","title":"Sea Harrier FRS 1 vs Mirage III\/Dagger","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFollowing Argentina's military operation to take possession of the Falkland Islands\/Islas Malvinas, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government launched a major naval operation to return them to British rule.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDefending the Royal Navy task force were two small squadrons totalling 20 Sea Harriers (SHARs). Initial clashes between SHARs and Argentine Mirages and Daggers on 1 May 1982 failed to eliminate the Sea Harrier defenders. FAA fighter-bomber pilots relied on daring and courageous ultra-low level attacks, frequently escaping the Sea Harrier’s limited capabilities, against Royal Navy warships and auxiliaries, causing considerable damage during Operation Corporate, the large-scale amphibious operation to repossess the islands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePublishing 35 years after the end of the conflict, this fully illustrated volume offers a balanced and objective examination of the SHAR and the Argentine Mirage and Dagger aircraft, highlighting the attributes of both and the skills and courage of the pilots flying them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300360991093,"sku":"9781472818898","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472818898_1e930b40-91e2-41cd-9164-ad927b17bdf7.jpg?v=1786020496"},{"product_id":"9781472824516","title":"“Big Week” 1944","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA rigorous new analysis of America's legendary 'Big Week' air campaign which enabled the Allies to gain air superiority before D-Day.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe USAAF’s mighty World War II bomber forces   were designed for unescorted, precision daylight bombing, but no-one   foresaw the devastation that German radar-directed interceptors would inflict   on them. Following the failures of 1943’s Schweinfurt-Regensburg raids, and   with D-Day looming, the Allies urgently needed to crush the Luftwaffe’s   ability to oppose the landings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn   February 1944, the Allies conceived and fought history’s first-ever   successful offensive counter­air (OCA) campaign, Operation \u003ci\u003eArgument\u003c\/i\u003e or   “Big Week.” Attacking German aircraft factories with hundreds of heavy   bombers, escorted by the new long-range P-51 Mustang, it aimed both to slash   aircraft production and force the Luftwaffe into combat, allowing the new Mustangs   to take their toll on the German interceptors. This expertly written, illustration-packed   account explains   how the Allies finally began to win air superiority over Europe, and how Operation   \u003ci\u003eArgument\u003c\/i\u003e marked the beginning of the Luftwaffe’s fall.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56300368920949,"sku":"9781472824516","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472824516_8fb9e7bd-bb3d-4661-a20a-ec534fbd3be9.jpg?v=1786020541"},{"product_id":"9781472820570","title":"Battle of Britain 1940","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA new analysis of the Battle of Britain, told unusually from the perspective of the Luftwaffe, detailing its plans to crush Fighter Command and win the war with air power.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn August 1940, the Luftwaffe began an operation to destroy or neutralize RAF Fighter Command, and enable Hitler to invade Britain that autumn. It was a new type of air warfare: the first ever offensive counter-air campaign against an integrated air defence system. Powerful, combat-proven and previously all-conquering, the German air force had the means to win the Battle of Britain. Yet it did not.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book is an original, rigorous campaign study of the Luftwaffe’s Operation \u003ci\u003eAdlerangriff\u003c\/i\u003e, researched in Germany’s World War II archives and using the most accurate data available. Doug Dildy explains the capabilities of both sides, sets the campaign in context, and argues persuasively that it was the Luftwaffe’s own mistakes and failures that led to its defeat, and kept alive the Allies’ chance to ultimately defeat Nazi Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56301113442677,"sku":"9781472820570","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472820570_e58221d2-c15f-4bad-a42c-50b7ba6aee8c.jpg?v=1786020522"},{"product_id":"9781912390335","title":"Fury from the North","description":"\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56313150996853,"sku":"9781912390335","price":19.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781912390335_f662308b-f1c0-4fcb-9d2c-807c81e6be44.jpg?v=1786030930"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-douglas-c-dildy.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}