In the summer of 1940, the skies over Britain filled with the sounds as of engines and gunfire, as the battle of Britain saw the RAF and Luftwaffe go head-to-head in a fight for air dominance. For the British pilots, the objective could not have been more critical – protect their nation from the threat of Nazi invasion. But were the British pilots really the plucky underdogs in this fight? And could Germany have launched an invasion if they had won the air battle over Britain? In the first episode of this five-part series on the greatest battles of WW2, Rachel Dinning explores those questions and more with military historian James Holland.
James Holland is a military historian and the author of several books on the Second World War including The Battle of Britain: Five Months that Changed History. He's the co-founder of the Chalke History Festival - which runs from 24-30 June this year. Find out more about the festival's extensive programme of history talks and events at chalkefestival.com.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Life of the week: Spartacus
The West's enduring fascination with Asia
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: everything you wanted to know
Nicholas Winton: the 'British Schindler'
Conspiracy | 2. Was Pearl Harbor an inside job?
Ireland's tangled relationship with empire
Life of the Week: Harold Godwinson (Harold II)
Britain's long love affair with sport
The Silk Road: everything you wanted to know
The Renaissance: an explosion of creativity
Conspiracy | 1. Was Elizabeth I a man?
Conspiracy | Series 2 Trailer
From the Mongols to the Huns: the nomads who dominated Eurasia
Life of the Week: Frederick Douglass
The hidden history of women in intelligence
The Bloomsbury Group: everything you wanted to know
'Madness' and the supernatural
Boston Tea Party | 5. A complex legacy
Why were the Romantics obsessed with Mount Vesuvius?
Life of the Week: Stalin
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Dan Snow’s History Hit
Gone Medieval
History Unplugged Podcast
Not Just the Tudors
History Daily