Spies In The Sky: The Secret Battle for Aerial Intelligence during World War II - Hardcover

'As Taylor Downing's superbly researched and fluently written Spies in the Sky proves, just as important to victory in the Second World War as the code-breakers at Bletchley Park were the photo interpreters of Danesfield House at Medmenham...Downing faces head-on the charges that photo intelligence failed the Allies when it came to identifying Auschwitz and Hitler's plans for the Battle of the Bulge, and he convinces. Staffed with larger-than-life characters such as Professor R.V. Jones, the lovely Connie Babington Smith, John Merrifield (who photographed a V-1 being test-launched) and Michael Suckling (who spotted the Bismarck), Spies in the Sky fills in a huge gap in Second World War historiography in both an exciting and intellectually stimulating way. No-one will be able to write a history of the conflict again without giving Medmenham its central role in Allied Intelligence-gathering' --Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War

'A fascinating read and a significant contribution to the history of World War Two. The code-breakers of Bletchley have become internationally renowned. Now Taylor Downing tells the unsung story of the photo-analysts of Medmenham and the heroic pilots in the spyplanes, putting them back where they belong - at the heart of Britain's secret war' --Professor David Reynolds, author of In Command of History

--Professor David Reynolds, author of In Command of History

'A fascinating read and a significant contribution to the history of World War Two. The code-breakers of Bletchley have become internationally renowned. Now Taylor Downing tells the unsung story of the photo-analysts of Medmenham and the heroic pilots in the skyplanes, putting them back where they belong - at the heart of Britain's secret war' --Professor David Reynolds, author of In Command of History

* The thrilling story of the brains behind those who helped Britain win WW2