Invasion, 1940 Did the Battle of Britain Alone Stop Hitler?

by Robinson, Derek

• ISBN13: 9780786716180
• ISBN10: 0786716185
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-17
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Summary

"What stopped Hitler in 1940 - why did he not attempt to invade Britain? And if he had, would he have been successful? Most of us would answer that "The Few" of Fighter Command saved Britain from certain invasion, because every historian of World War Two, from Winston Churchill onwards, has said so. Yet in this fresh look, Derek Robinson argues that the Battle of Britain alone could not have been why Operation Sealion, the planned German invasion, was scrapped. The greater obstacle was a force that both Churchill and Hitler failed to acknowledge." "Robinson suggests that most accounts of 1940 are written as if the Channel and the Royal Navy did not exist. In fact, an inadequate German fleet was relying on the use of 1,000 flat-bottomed barges as landing craft - which even in a flat calm would have taken ten days to effect the complete landing. These cumbersome vessels would also have been sitting ducks for the Royal Navy, which at that time was still massive - 70 to 80 destroyers were ready and waiting in home waters." "The skill and courage of the Spitfire and Hurricane pilots who fought the Battle of Britain are not in question, and Robinson never downplays the extent of their sacrifice - he is the author of many acclaimed books depicting the lives of fighter pilots in both world wars. Here he challenges a verdict that has been in place for 50 years and his views will be unwelcome to some. But as well as relating the Battle of Britain with his trademark realism, Robinson now presents clear evidence to make us question our easy acceptance of the old story."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Derek Robinson is a policeman's son from a council estate who crossed the class barrier by going to Cambridge, where he got a degree in history and learned to write badly. A stint in advertising in London and New York changed that, and in 1971 he finally got it right when Goshawk Squadron was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His equally acclaimed trilogy of World War Two novels are Piece of Cake, A Good Clean Fight and Damned Good Show.

His other novels include The Eldorado Network and Artillery of Lies. Derek Robinson has also published nonfiction on a variety of themes, from the laws of rugby to the nuclear tests on Christmas Island in the 1950s. His most recent book is Invasion, 1940, a revisionist history of the Battle of Britain. He lives in Bristol.

Table of Contents

Map	x
List of Illustrations	xiii
Questions
Two Powerful Myths	3	(8)
The Way We Were
Sugar Umbrellas	11	(6)
Serial Liar	17	(4)
The Knock-out Myth	21	(10)
For You, the War is Over
Only Fishbait	31	(6)
Small War in Europe, Not Many Dead	37	(4)
Die At Our Posts	41	(12)
Revenge, With Dynamite
Hitler Hops	53	(4)
Hitler Declares Peace	57	(6)
That's My Meat	63	(4)
Afire With Scorn	67	(4)
Neutral Gear	71	(4)
The Height of Folly
Heil Germania!	75	(10)
Not in the Script
Thunder in the Mediterranean	85	(8)
Fuhrer Knows Best	93	(2)
The Fuhrer is Puzzled	95	(4)
Hitler Does the Decent Thing	99	(6)
A New Use for Cheese-cutters	105	(4)
The Jolt was Violent	109	(6)
Hacking Down Auntie Ju	115	(6)
Hardware
No Picnic in Poland	121	(4)
The Warhorse and the Thoroughbred	125	(6)
Hitler's Merlin	131	(4)
Radar: A Muddled Picture	135	(10)
The Balance of Blunders
A Bonfire of Tactics	145	(6)
Throw Out These Radios!	151	(6)
The Red Light Blinks	157	(6)
Numbers	163	(6)
Hearsay Is Not Evidence	169	(6)
11 Group: Findable, Hittable and Breakable
An Accidental Success	175	(4)
A Perilous State	179	(6)
Nothing But German Aircraft	185	(4)
A Little Help From Upstairs	189	(8)
Spectacular Entry	197	(6)
A Mighty River Crossing
Sawing the Baby in Half	203	(6)
Bold Arrows	209	(4)
Schwerpunkt	213	(4)
Problems for Cross-Channel Traffic	217	(8)
The Heart of the Legend
Long Shot	225	(6)
Bullets Versus Barges	231	(4)
The Great Shield	235	(6)
Things That Go Bump in the Night
Dawn or Nothing	241	(2)
Hit the Beach	243	(6)
Salt Horse	249	(4)
Clean Sweep	253	(8)
Trapped on a Far Shore	261	(4)
The Chameleon of Truth	265	(4)
Notes	269	(32)
Bibliography	301	(4)
Acknowledgements	305	(4)
Index	309