THE SPITFIRE KIDS: The generation who built,supported and flew Britain's most beloved fighter.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 1.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,colour illustrated dw/dj panels,with capitalised,embossed,red-lettered part-title and black-lettered sub-title,capitalised,embossed black-lettered author name to front of dw/dj,other flat printed black-lettering; spine/backstrip with flat printed but similarly coloured+lettered author name and part-,title as front's and publisher's capitalised, black-lettered name and black illustrated colophon respectively to foot of same,rear panel of dw/dj with colour illustration and inset,contemporary wartime b/w photograph and critic's black-lettered reviews. Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners – no nicks, tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright and generally clean but with a couple of miniscule blemishes to each; else contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips – appears unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean/unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering to spine/backstrip,,and immaculate colour illustrated sets of endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn,1-358pp [paginated] includes author's Introduction,Pts 1-3 comprising 6,10 and 4 chapters: The Builders,The Designers and The Fliers respectively,an Afterword,8pp of contemporary b/w biographical photographs,a contemporary colour film poster and a modern colour biographical photograph in 1 block,between pp170/71, an Appendix,Acknowledgements,a Select Bibliography,Notes,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a Contents list/table and to the rear,2pp blanks. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults. Despite the many films and television programmes over the decades since the end of the Second World War that portrays our allied heroes as grown-up men and women,the 'Battle of Britain' was in the main actually fought and won by teenagers. The average age of an RAF fighter pilot was just twenty years old. Many of the men and women who designed and built their planes were even younger.Based on the hit BBC World Service podcast 'Spitfire: The People's Story', we use contemporary diaries and memoirs,many of them previously unpublished,to tell the story of the Spitfire through the voices of the teenagers who risked everything to design,build and fly her. This isn't a story of stiff-upper lips, stoical moustaches and aerial heroics; it's a story of love and loss, a story of young people tested to the very limits of their endurance. They worked in factories building the parts that were vital to keep the Royal Air Force fully operational whilst all around them the Lufwaffe above tried to bomb them into destruction.Many joined up to work in the vital services of air defence,constructing radr systems,coordinatiing supplies to the bases,and, ferrying the planes to new bases for eager young pilots to take to the skies to defeat the enemy. These were the young people who won a battle that turned a war.through fresh interviews and war diaries and personal correspondence,BBC radio producer Alasdair Cross recounts an incredible tale of courage and sacrifice that celebrates arguably Britian's greatest generation. A bestselling BBC World Service ten-part series and podcast that celebrates the men and women who built and flew the Second World War's most famous fighter plane - the Spitfire. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **