title: A Summer Bright and Terrible: Winston Churchill, Lord Dowding, Radar, and the Impossible Triumph of the Battle of Britain
author:  David E. Fisher 
description: Possibly few World War II battles are quite as myth-encrusted as the Battle of Britain. Accolades to the "few" extolled by Winston Churchill have prompted revisionist accounts such as Richard Overy's <i>Battle of Britain: The Myth and the Reality</i> (2001). Fisher's contribution to the subgenre sets aside the understandable attraction to Spitfires--versus-Messerschmitts, and tells the story of the British commander of the battle, Hugh Dowding. Unceremoniously forced into retirement during the battle, Dowding does not have the historical renown a victor can expect. To Dowding's most obvious trait--obstinacy--Fisher credits the man's success (and by implication, Britain's salvation). For Dowding, initially as the Royal Air Force's chief of technical research, and subsequently as head of Fighter Command, resisted numerous dubious ideas from on high; chaperoned by Churchill's childish excitement, the bad ideas, like sending Britain's fighter squadrons to France, could have had dire consequences but for Dowding's stout opposition. Featuring a lively narrative peppered with summary judgments, Fisher's profile of the eccentric Dowding merits the allegiance of the WWII audience. <i>Gilbert Taylor</i><br /><i>Copyright  American Library Association. All rights reserved</i>
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  PLEDGE OF HONOR
   
  J.T. Brannan
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Copyright © J.T. Brannan 2015
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  For Justyna, Jakub and Mia;
  and my parents, for their help and support
  
   
   
   
   
   
  ‘Terrorism is what we call the violence of the
  weak, and we condemn it; war is what we call
  the violence of the strong, and we glorify it.’
  - Sydney J. Harris
   
  ‘Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper.
  You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the
  only shot that people remember is the one that
  gets past you.’
  - Paul Wilkinson
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  PROLOGUE
  
  1
  The rain was pouring again, just one more reason why Aabid Karam
  hated his country. Did the sun ever shine in Britain? And yet as he
  continued his walk through the city of London, he had to admit that he
  did have mixed feelings about the place.
  He watched the cold, black waters of the Thames flowing
  beneath him from his position halfway across Westminster Bridge,
  jostled even at this late hour by the crowds. Late hour? He checked his
  watc