The Royal Air Force fighter pilot remains one of the most enduring images of the Second World War. Chaz Bowyer has been among the most respected chroniclers of the RAF effort for over 30 years. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the author has selected 20 RAF fighter pilots of the 1939-45 period, not only to give overdue recognition to their prowess and courage, but also to demonstrate the wide diversity of personality and experience of those men whose war was fought from the cockpit of an RAF fighter. A few became famous, but the majority fought on in obscurity as the backbone of Britain's day-to-day fighter effort.