The Battle of Britain on Screen: The Few in British Film and Television Drama

This new, updated edition of The Battle of Britain on Screen examines in depth the origins, development and reception of the major dramatic screen representations of 'The Few' in the Battle of Britain produced over the past 75 years. Paul MacKenzie explores both continuity and change in the presentation of a wartime event that acquired and retains near-mythical dimensions in popular consciousness and has been represented many times in feature films and television dramas. Alongside relevant technical developments, the book also examines the social, cultural, and political changes occurring in the second half of the 20th century and first decade of current century that helped shape how the battle came to be framed dramatically.

This edition contains a new chapter looking at the portrayal of the Battle of Britain at the time of its 70th anniversary. Through its perceptive demonstration of how our memory of the battle has been constantly reshaped through film and television, The Battle of Britain on Screen provides students of the Second World War, 20th-century Britain and film history with a thorough and complex understanding of an iconic historical event.

S. P. MacKenzie is Caroline McKissick Dial Professor of History and an affiliated faculty member in the Film Studies programme at the University of South Carolina, USA. He is author of numerous articles and nine scholarly books dealing with aspects of Britain at war in the 20th century, among them British War Films, 1939-1945: The Cinema and the Services (2006, reprinted 2007). Recent titles include The Imjin and Kapyong Battles, Korea 1951 (2013), British Prisoners of the Korean War (2012) and Bader’s War (2008).