Spitfire: Icon of a Nation

Ivan Rendall

Designed to be the best fighter in the world the creators of the Spitfire married science, technology and art to create both 'a thing of beauty' and a deadly weapon that changed the course of the Second World War. The Spitfire is part of popular culture and from the Battle of Britain to the present day it has remained a national celebrity in Britain. As a focus of appeals, for scrap aluminium - 'turn your saucepans into Spitfires' - for the 'Spitfire Fund' and 'Wings for Victory Week' the British people had a stake in the Spitfire. Working People contributed through their companies to present Spitfires to the RAF in return for letters from the pilots. After the war, no victory flypast was complete without a Spitfire, and today no air show is over until the roar of the Merlin engine has been heard overhead. This book, includes a wealth of unusual contemporary imagery, modern photography and first-person reminiscence. Hard cover, small format, illustrated, 349 pages.