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Preorder the daring life story and astonishing adventures of Captain Eric Winkle Brown Britains greatestever pilot

Small in stature but immense in reputation and talent there was more to Eric Winkle Brown than met the eye

The pilot who set the standard for Britains golden age of aviation Winkle cemented his worldwide fame with incredible skill extraordinary daring and nerves of steel when things went wrong From shooting down Luftwaffe bombers from the deck of a carrier in the Battle of the Atlantic and narrowly escaping death when his ship was torpedoed to accumulating a nevertobe repeated litany of world records and firsts as a test pilot his unparalleled flying career saw him take the controls of over four hundred different kinds of aircraft more than any other pilot in history

A rival to Chuck Yeager and hero to Neil Armstrong by the time of his appearance on Desert Island Discs 1000th episode Winkle had become a legend in his own lifetime and by his death a national treasure

But despite his enormous fame there have always been mysteries at the heart of Winkles story To truly understand this fascinating but secretive man is to grapple with questions that have intrigued and confounded biographers throughout his extraordinary life

Drawing on previously unseen documents and unfettered access to Winkles own personal archive Paul Beaver records a life with more twists and turns than a Battle of Britain dogfight which was of course something Winkle had taken part in himself uncovering the complex and enigmatic man behind the legend the real story of Britains greatest pilot

A story Winkle insisted could only be told after his death

2023 Paul Beaver P2023 Penguin Audio