The Greatest Day

The Greatest Day is an hour-by-hour account of the events of 15 September 1940, when the Luftwaffe’s all-out attempt to destroy the Royal Air Force with an armada of bombers was thwarted by the Spitfires and Hurricanes of RAF Fighter Command. Now celebrated as ‘Battle of Britain Day’, 15 September 1940 is widely recognized as the critical turning point of that battle, a day whose outcome led Hitler to abandon his plans for an invasion of Britain – and allowed Britons to dare to hope that the Nazi war machine might ultimately be defeated. Drawing on official records and accounts of the time, as well as on previously unpublished letters, diaries and the photograph albums of airmen’s families, David Price pieces together the events of a momentous day to create a narrative that is as rich in evocative detail as it is in touching human stories. The hour-by-hour approach allows multiple perspectives to emerge and fascinating juxtapositions to be made. Episodes of gripping aerial combat are interwoven with scenes from the operations room at RAF Uxbridge, HQ of No. 11 Group, and with eyewitness accounts of ordinary people’s experiences of a day that changed history – from farmers on the south coast to children watching the massed vapour trails of dogfights over south-east England. As with David’s previous titles, The Greatest Day will be informed by the author’s ability to narrate aerial action in thrilling and atmospheric fashion, by his remarkable technical understanding of Second World War aircraft and by his instinctive empathy with the men who flew in them.