Eagle Days - Life and Death for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain

It's the summer of 1940. Great Britain watches as France succumbs to the might of Adolf Hitler's forces. British forces are not faring much better: largely driven off the continent with many rescued from capture at Dunkirk, only the Royal Air Force, supported by the country's newly established radar system, now stand in the way of full-scale invasion. The stakes are incredibly high.

What follows is months of intense aerial combat across the English Channel and the countryside of southeast England - combat that flies in the face of optimistic Nazi propaganda. But how did members of the Luftwaffe experience this momentous conflict?

Blending a diverse range of primary sources and groundbreaking research, including Luftwaffe air crews' personal letters, eyewitness accounts, official combat reports and contemporary German newspapers, Victoria Taylor weaves a rich and multifaceted tapestry to explore the German air force's mentality and morale during the Battle of Britain.

Eagle Days transforms the Luftwaffe's historical role during the RAF's 'Finest Hour' from a cartoonish antagonist to a multidimensional, flawed-yet-formidable opponent. Eagle Days will offer all fans of this period a refreshing new account of the Luftwaffe's real experiences during the Battle of Britain.

About the author

Dr Victoria Taylor, BA (Hons), MRes, AFHEA is an award-winning aviation historian who completed her PhD thesis on the Luftwaffe and National Socialism in the Third Reich at the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University. She has contributed to numerous popular history magazines such as BBC History Extra, Iron Cross Magazine and Britain at War. Victoria sits on the Advisory Board for the cross-party Spitfire AA810 restoration project in the House of Lords and is an Assistant Editor for the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Journal of Aeronautical History. Eagle Days is her first non-fiction book.

Product details

• Authors: Taylor Victoria
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 23.04.2026
• EAN: 9781804542583
• ISBN: 978-1-80454-258-3
• No. of pages: 464
• Illustrations: 1 x 8 black and white & 1 map
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > 20th century (up to 1945); Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political administration; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Geography, POLITICAL SCIENCE / General, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, Air forces & warfare, Second World War, United Kingdom, Great Britain, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), Political Geography, Air forces and warfare, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), HISTORY / Military / Aviation & Space, History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / European Theater