Leader Of The Few: The authorised biography of Air Chief Marshal the Lord Dowding of Bentley Priory GCB GCVO (1957) By Basil Collier
 
To the general public, perhaps even to his friends, Lord Dowding is somewhat of an enigmatic figure. As Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding he led the air defences to triumph in the Battle of Britain, thereby delivering the country from the grim prospect of invasion. Few battles fought by British arms have had such momentous consequences, and few commanders in any age have made a greater personal contribution than did the man who had worked for many years behind the scenes to ensure that everything technical skill could devise was done to prepare for the ordeal he foresaw. Yet the architect of victory scarcely drew from his achievement the full measure of recognition and acclaim accorded to other successful wartime leaders. He gained a peerage, but not the promotion which would have kept his name on the Active List, and retired before the end of the war to private life. He has since devoted himself largely to such unconventional pursuits as the study and propagation of Spiritualist doctrine. By training Lord Dowding is a soldier. Those who served with him in his early and middle years saw in him a keen shot, an enthusiastic polo-player, a conscientious studying of his profession, an aloof and rather awe-inspiring figure who apparently never shrank from placing military efficiency above personal considerations. Others knew him as a skier of international standing. Men of action commonly have an unsuspected side; even so it seems a far cry from the Kiplingesque figure of that epoch to the present-day apostle of strange causes, to whom the humblest forms of life are sacred and bloodsports anathema. In this biography the author is concerned not only with the Air Chief Marshal but with the man. He has had full support and active co-operation from Lord Dowding and members of his family, but is solely responsible for statements made and views expressed in the book.
 
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
264 pages
In Good condition