Max Arthur, bestselling author of FORGOTTEN VOICES: THE GREAT WAR, presents this moving collection of first-hand accounts of life in the Royal Air Force, from 1918 to the present day. LOST VOICES OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE records the role of the RAF in World War II, and, particularly, the Battle of Britain and the desert battles of North Africa, as well as in the Falklands and in the Gulf War. Through original interviews with air and ground crew, the spirit and comradeship, the stress, courage, isolation, vulnerability and the wonder of the wartime flying experience is vividly explored.

Acclaimed historian Max Arthur pays tribute to the Royal Navy from 1914 to 1945. Drawing on the personal stories of those who have served during this period, he has created a unique narrative history of the senior service. FORGOTTEN VOICES: THE ROYAL NAVY is a memorable and moving testament to the courage, spirit, skill and irrepressible humour of those who served in the Royal Navy during these crucial years.

Max Arthur, bestselling author of the hugely popular ‘Forgotten Voices’ series, recaptures the day-to-day lives of working people in the Edwardian era.

‘Never has so much been owed by so many, to so few.’ This is the story of those few, in their own words. In the summer of 1940, the British frontlines were the skies above southern England. Spitfires and Hurricanes took on the might of the Luftwaffe, and its feared Messerschmitt fighters, dogfighting high above civilians watching on in awe. Hitler was determined to invade Britain and close down the Western Front for good. But his plan – Operation Sea Lion – could not begin while the RAF could still harry an invasion fleet. It had to be broken. Up to five times a day, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command scrambled to meet the inbound Luftwaffe. At one point, every available British fighter plane was airborne – Britain threw literally everything into the fight, and was tested to the very limits. Against all odds 'The Few', as they came to be known, bought Britain's freedom – many with their lives. These are the personal accounts of the pilots who fought and survived that battle. We will not see their like again.

After the fall of France in May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force was miraculously evacuated from Dunkirk. Britain now stood alone to face Hitler’s inevitable invasion attempt. For the German army to land across the channel, Hitler needed mastery of the skies—the Royal Air Force would have to be broken. So every day throughout the summer, German bombers pounded the RAF air bases in the southern counties. Greatly outnumbered by the Luftwaffe, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command scrambled as many as five times a day, and civilians watched skies crisscrossed with the contrails from the constant dogfights between Spitfires and Me-109s. Britain’s very freedom depended on the outcome of that summer’s battle: Its air defenses were badly battered and nearly broken, but against all odds, “The Few,” as they came to be known, bought Britain’s freedom—many with their lives. More than a fifth of the British and Allied pilots died during the Battle of Britain. These are the personal accounts of the pilots who fought and survived that battle. Their stories are as riveting, as vivid, and as poignant as they were seventy years ago. We will not see their like again.

The Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force, was formed in 1912 and went to war in 1914 where it played a vital role in reconnaissance, supporting the British Expeditionary Force as 'air cavalry' and also in combat, establishing air superiority over the Imperial German Air Force. Edward Bujak here combines the history of the air war, including details of strategy, tactics, technical issues and combat, with a social and cultural history. The RFC was originally dominated by the landed elite, in Lloyd George's phrase 'from the stateliest houses in England', and its pilots were regarded as 'knights of the air'. Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, seat of landed gentry, became their major training base. Bujak shows how, within the circle of the RFC, the class divide and unconscious superiority of Edwardian Britain disappeared - absorbed by common purpose, technical expertise and by an influx of pilots from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He thus provides an original and unusual take on the air war in World War I, combining military, social and cultural history.

On the night of 16-17 May 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron headed for Germany. Their mission, for which they had been trained under a cloak of absolute secrecy, was to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley and in doing so cripple the Nazi industrial war effort. It was to become one of the most famous raids of WW2. For the first time, acclaimed oral historian Max Arthur has gathered together the voices of the 'Dambusters', including Guy Gibson, commander of the mission and Barnes Wallis, who developed the iconic Bouncing Bomb. These voices tell of the hard training and sheer bravery that went into this legendary mission. We also hear from the German civilians who suffered the attack, who speak of the devastation that was wrought in their lives. This was a raid like no other, and in this extraordinary collection Max Arthur has created an enduring record of a unique event in British military history.

This illustrated WW2 biography chronicles the wartime experiences of a young Royal Air Force pilot who flew into combat over Europe and Burma. Ben Walsh lied about his age to join the RAF, determined to play his part in the Second World War. He volunteered to be an intruder pilot, flying low level operations in the dark. Ben flew ops for three years, starting in the skies over with Europe, then ferrying one of the first Mosquito FB VIs to India before flying in the Burma campaign. After surviving belly landings, crashes, enemy fire and engine failures, the strain of combat operations took its toll on the young pilot. When Ben and his navigator asked to be removed from operations, their request was only denied, but also resulted in threats of court martial. By the end of the war, Ben was suffering from a nervous condition known as ‘the twitch’. His confidence and health were restored by the young woman who would become his wife. Throughout the war, Ben maintained a ‘Roll of honor’ in his photograph album, memorializing his friends and colleagues who lost their lives. That album forms the backdrop to this biography, which is based on Ben’s own recollections, his logbook and the notes he kept through the war.

The 'Forgotten Voices' of the First World War speak for the final time. LAST POST is very consciously the last word from the handful of First World War survivors who were left alive in 2004. Now they have passed away, our final human connection with the First World War has been broken. Max Arthur, a skilled interviewer, took the very last chance we had to ask questions of those who were there. Now updated to include a new introduction by the author for the centenary of the First World War.