This book is a photographic portfolio set in a modern, high technology age. Today, we tend to look at the Spitfire as a quintessential work of aerodynamic art in its own right, rather than as an aeroplane designed to destroy enemy aircraft as efficiently as possible. Its name, beauty, and track record has made it pre-eminent among Allied wartime aircraft in the minds of the British public, pilots, and enthusiasts ever since it personified the spirit of national resistance against Nazi tyranny when Britain stood alone in the long, hot summer of 1940.