Paul Beaver Books

Eric 'Winkle' Brown was Britain's greatest pilot. His extraordinary flying career saw him fight in the Battle of Britain, narrowly escape death on a torpedoed aircraft carrier, achieve a litany of new records and firsts as a test pilot, and fly more kinds of aircraft than any other pilot in history. With a life as remarkable as his flying, Brown faced imprisonment in Germany at the outbreak of WWII, and after the Allied victory his fluent German saw him interviewing senior Nazi officials and participating in the liberation of Belsen - an experience that haunted him for the rest of his life. A rival to Chuck Yeager and hero to astronaut Neil Armstrong, by the time of his death in 2016 Winkle Brown had become a legend in his own lifetime and a national treasure. Drawing on Brown's own papers and fascinating new research, Paul Beaver uncovers surprising new truths and incredible achievements in the definitive account of a pilot and man who was revered around the world.

Published to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, this book presents a fresh angle on the Spitfire by examining the contribution to its development and achievements by over 65 people, some famous, others not.