The historical value of this evidence is enormous

Digestible form with valuable contextual notes. There are many fleeting gems

This invaluable book brings us history in real time. With its echo of voices of civilians... Listening to Britain provides a matchless insight into the contradictory, confused and complex experience of living through Britain's "finest hour"

[The reports] offer an invaluable and unvarnished insight into thoughts and feelings about events without the benefit of hindsight... I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes reading non-fiction about the war or fiction set at this time

Fascinating collection of reports

A splendid and absorbing book

The sort of book that will have social historians salivating

A strangely liberating and liberated catalogue of everyday grumbles, both great and small

A full and fascinating account... Edge-of-the-seat exciting

Holland is a narrative historian par excellence who believes that people should eb at the heart of any story and brings the characters of the age to life... [an] excellent, highly-readable volume

Full of lively accounts of aerial contests and well-observed details

History told with panache and an excellent grasp of the technical details

Holland's narrative is impressively comprehensive and is a superb introduction to one of the great turning points of the last war. More importantly it is stirring, occasionally even exhilarating, as any history of this period is obliged to be

A fitting, and beautifully illustrated, tribute to the Few, while not forgetting the unsung heroes of Bomber Command

There have been many books about the Battle of Britain but few as exhaustive - and readable - as this scholarly account

Facts and figures say a great deal, but the most compelling accounts come from those who featured in the battle. Like any good author, Holland allows the participants to tell the story in their own words

A major new assessment of Britain's war effort from 1939 to 1945. Never again will some of the lazy assessments of how Britain performed over these years ... be acceptable. That's why this is such an important book

Innovative and most important

Compelling and engaging ... an excellent read

Edgerton's well-researched volume bursts with data that reveal Britain's true strength even when supposed to be in critical condition

Britain's War Machine offers the boldest revisionist argument that seeks to overturn some of our most treasured assumptions about Britain's role in the war ... Edgerton [is] an economic historian with an army of marshalled facts and figures at his fingertips ... This is truly an eye-opening book that explodes the masochistic myth of poor little Britain, revealing the island as a proud power with the resources needed to fight and win a world war

Masterful Britain's War Machine promotes the notion that the United Kingdom of the Forties was a superpower, with access to millions of men across the globe, and forming the heart of a global production network