This is an excellent account of many who flew the iconic Spitfire from 1939-45. Many a time when I sat in the garden reading this book, a Spitfire from a nearby airfield would fly over, and even though I was born well after the Second World War, the sound of a Spitfire's engine makes me feel nostalgic for a time I never knew. Though it is assumed that ‘Spitfire’ came from the aeroplane’s awesome firing capabilities, it was also an Elizabethan word that meant someone who had a fiery character. The names Snipe and Shrew were also considered for the plane. Thankfully they went with Spitfire! I am often asked which is my favourite aircraft.it is a very difficult question for me to answer. Who wouldn't be impressed with the gut-wrenching climb performance of the Lightning, almost touching the lower reaches of space, out of howling along in a Hawker Sea Fury? So I answer the question this way: if God said that I could have just one more flight, my last flight before I die, in any aircraft I have ever flown, I would choose to get airborne in a Spitfire." I would have given, wanted to give, 5 stars, however, the inclusion of the sentence regarding the stray dog stopped me. Whilst pertinent to the character of the individual, I felt it could have been omitted hence why not the full 5.

A love story indeed. It pays homage to the men and women who designed the Spitfire, built her, maintained her and flew her — as well as to the Spitfire herself. The Spitfire was more than an aircraft. It was a symbol of hope, of courage and resilience, and became a legend. With its elliptic wings, it was easily recognisable in the wartime skies and became an icon, giving hope to those Allies civilians watching below. It inspired kids watching to become fighter pilots — on Spitfires. A really interesting look into the history and use of the Spitfire, one of the most renowned planes from the Second World War. Of course you can't just write a story of the plane, so the heart of this book are the short vignettes of the pilots and (a few) groundcrew who lived and worked with the plane through the war.

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Nichol doesn’t spend much time pondering his own question. Instead the book provides a history of the Spitfire, primarily through first-hand accounts from those who flew it during WW2. In Britain today the Spitfire is very much associated with the Battle of Britain, but Nichol’s book takes us through the subsequent campaigns in Malta, North Africa, Italy, France etc. There’s also a short section about the use of Spitfires in the Burma campaign, and another interesting one about the work of the mainly female pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary, who flew planes from the factories where they were manufactured to their operational airfields. While not incredibly clear in the beginning of the book, Nichol’s follows several former Spitfire pilots throughout the book using their experiences and stories to bring life and love to the story as well as connect his chapters. Upon introduction to each of these pilots, there is always the line “and that’s when he knew he wanted to fly fighters,” and sadly by the tenth time it gets monotonous and gives a slow, repetitive start to the book.

This is a truly fascinating book from so many angles. I suspect that many, like me, would view the Spitfire as being synonymous with the Battle of Britain, but then having a very sketchy picture thereafter. This book inks in that sketch in effect by telling the story of the second world war through the contribution of this one aircraft. The stories that are pulled together throughout various fronts and places (England, France, Italy, Africa, and the Far East are some of those places) during World War II feature a wide array of pilots and all of them had their stories to tell involving the Spitfire.The Spitfire’s maiden flight was on 5 March 1936. It entered service with the RAF in 1938 and remained there until 1955. The author of this book, John Nichol, gained an unwelcome bout of fame during the 1991 Gulf War, when the Tornado aircraft in which he was navigator was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. He was captured and paraded on Iraqi TV. His experiences obviously lend him a degree of credibility when writing about military aircraft, and probably also when he interviewed the veterans whose experiences are recorded in this book.

Nevertheless, no matter how good the book may seem, it has some negatives. The stories are from first-hand accounts from those who flew it during WWII, which means that the book instead provides a primitive history of the spitfire instead of diving too deeply into it. However, unlike many similarly formatted books, this one gives accounts of people outside of England and through the subsequent campaigns in Malta, North Africa, Italy, France etc. This makes it stand out from nearly every other one of these books. The Spitfire has a devout following of all who flew her, specially on combat. It was an extension of the pilot who has only positive accolades. Coupled with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, it was a perfect flying machine, saving many a pilot out of difficult situations, earning the grudging respect of the enemy. Like the time when an RAF pilot ran out of ammunition as two German Me109 fighters found him. A tough dog fight ensued where he continued to evade the two German fighters, who did not manage to hit him once. At the end, the two fighters flew on either side of him, waggled their wings in a sign of respect, and banked away. That's Air Marshal Cliff Spink rounding out John Nichol's love letter to Supermarine's legacy. And what a love letter. Short on development technicalities, but long on the experiences and lives of the men and women who flew and fought in the Spitfire over England, Europe, the Med, North Africa, the Far East and Russia. Their love for the aircraft shines through, and some of the tales will quite literally take your breath away. The Spitfire was a thing of beauty to behold, in the air or on the ground, with graceful lines of its slim fuselage it elliptical wing and tail plane. It look like a fighter and it certainly proved to be just that in the fullest meaning of the term. It was a aircraft with a personality of its own-docile at times, swift and deadly at others-a fighting machine par excellence."(p.376)Spitfire' was a book depicting the everyday struggles of WWII for the brave pilots who would be forced to handle the spitfire on a heroic route to the nazis.