The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain

Stephen Bungay

Sep 2010 · Aurum

About this ebook

Stephen Bungay’s magisterial history is acclaimed as the account of the Battle of Britain.

Unrivalled for its synthesis of all previous historical accounts, for the quality of its strategic analysis and its truly compulsive narrative, this is a book ultimately distinguished by its conclusions – that it was the British in the Battle who displayed all the virtues of efficiency, organisation and even ruthlessness we habitually attribute to the Germans, and they who fell short in their amateurism, ill-preparedness, poor engineering and even in their old-fashioned notions of gallantry.

An engrossing read for the military scholar and the general reader alike, this is a classic of military history that looks beyond the mythology, to explore all the tragedy and comedy; the brutality and compassion of war.

Ratings and reviews

Brilliantly researched and very well written. Provides not only hard statistics and arguments but also the human perspective of this immensely important time. Gripping and informative at the same time

About the author

Stephen Bungay was born in Kent in 1954 and educated at Oxford and Tübingen. He has spent his career working for the Boston Consulting Group in London and Munich as a chief executive in an insurance company. He is now working in executive education, specialising in military history and modern management practice. His first book, The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain, published by Aurum in 2001 has now become accepted as the definitive book on the subject. His subsequent book, Alamein, also published by Aurum, was praised by Lawrence James in the Daily Mail as ‘a brilliant balance between lucid analysis and piquant detail', and by John Lukacs in the Los Angeles Times as ‘terse and brilliantly written by a thorough master of his subject'. He regularly appears on TV documentaries about the Second World War. He lives in Kent.