The Sky Suspended: The Battle of Britain.
1960 · London
by Middleton, Drew.
London: Secker & Warburg, 1960. Octavo, blue cloth (hardcover), gilt letters, 255 pp. Very Good, with lightly rubbed edges and bookplate; in a Near-Fine dust jacket with darkened spine. From dust jacket: With his last book The Biritish, Mr. Drew Middleton gave a brilliantly balanced picture of the customs, problems and achievements of post-war Britain. In The Sky Suspended he gives an equally unforgettable account of those last six months of 1940 when Britain’s survival was assured, the period of the Battle of Britain, and the Blitz. Mr. Middleton at that time was the London Correspondent of the Associated Press (a position he holds today for the New York Times). This is in fact an eye-witness account by one of the gerat objective reporters of our day. His story deals with the big days of the battle when every available fighter plane on either side was engaged; with every phase of the struggle as seen through the eyes of a single squadron (No. 85 Hurricane Squadron, then commanded by Squadron Leader Peter Townsend) to whose records he has had access; and with the night raids on London and the Provinces when the citizens of Britain stood firm. The book is iillustrated with extracts from the diaries the author kept at the time. (Inventory #: 4602bd)