Overview

The Few tells the dramatic and unforgettable story of eight young Americans who joined Britain's Royal Air Force, defying their country's neutrality laws and risking their U. S. citizenship to fight side-by-side with England's finest pilots in the summer of 1940-over a year before America entered the war. Flying the lethal and elegant Spitfire, they became ""knights of the air"" and with minimal training but plenty of guts, they dueled the skilled and fearsome pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation. Winston Churchill once said of all those who fought in the Battle of Britain, ""Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. "" These daring Americans were the few among the ""few. "" Now, with the narrative drive and human drama that made The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter national bestsellers, Alex Kershaw tells their story for the first time.

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The true story that inspired Saving Private Ryan. A heroic, inspiring story that deserves to be told. The poignant story of twenty-one young men... who died in the D-Day invasion. A powerful reminder of the human cost of war. A moving story of uncommon valor. -- James Bradley Few books describe the costs of war so soberly and so vividly.

Rousing story of idealistic Americans who fought against the Nazis with Britain's Royal Air Force long before the U.S. entered World War II.British-born historian Kershaw (The Bedford Boys, 2003, etc.) tells the story of young Americans who, after making their way to Canada and then by ship to Europe, where, in the summer of 1940, among 571 foreigners flying RAF Spitfires against the German Luftwaffe in brutal dogfights over the English Channel. Recruited by Colonel Charles Sweeny, a colorful mercenary and Hemingway pal twice expelled from West Point, these few Americans who fought in the Battle of Britain consisted of Olympic gold-medalist Billy Fiske, 27; Brooklyn skydiver Shorty Keough, 26; former MGM-employed pilot Eugene Tobin, 23; and five others, all civilian pilots intent on flying the powerful Spitfires (their Rolls-Royce engines could exceed 400 miles an hour) and determined to avoid the anticipated American draft. Risking loss of their citizenship in the still-neutral U.S., the fighter pilots were deemed grand fellows by grateful Brits, and in a decisive air battle on Sept. 15, 1940, they helped halt Hitler's plans to invade Britain. The author draws on diaries, letters and interviews to recreate harrowing midair sorties against the background of Germany's blitzkrieg advance across Europe and Churchill's relentless efforts to coax the U.S. into the war. After the Battle of Britain, more than 200 Americans continued to serve in the RAF's three American Eagle squadrons, which later became part of the U.S. Army Air Force. They were never prosecuted by the State Department; a dozen are still living.A delight for military buffs. (Kirkus Reviews)

A powerful reminder of the human cost of war. The true story that inspired Saving Private Ryan. A moving story of uncommon valor. -- James Bradley A heroic, inspiring story that deserves to be told. Few books describe the costs of war so soberly and so vividly. The poignant story of twenty-one young men... who died in the D-Day invasion.

The poignant story of twenty-one young men... who died in the D-Day invasion.

Author Information

Alex Kershaw is the author of the widely acclaimed and bestselling books The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, and The Few, and two biographies: Jack London and Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa. He lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

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