What Da Cover Says: Reginald Mitchell is one of the greatest names in aviation history. A visionary engineer with a passion for speed, his legacy is the most iconic fighter aircraft of all the Spitfire.

During the uneasy peace of the 1920s, he was a trailblazing innovator working at the cutting edge of technology. As Europe’s politics darkened in the 1930s, the work of Mitchell and his team at Supermarine became crucial to a nation preparing for war. Though he did not live to see the Spitfire in action, his work led to triumph at the Battle of Britain – and to a legendary aircraft that still inspires awe to this day.

In this exhilarating biography, Paul Beaver takes us behind the scenes, exploring the creative genius of a man devoted to pushing the boundaries of technology. We see his flair for leadership and collaboration with Rolls-Royce, the pinnacle of British engineering; we learn of Mitchell’s other innovative designs that could have changed the course of the war, had he not died in 1937; and, at last, we hear the real story behind the Spitfire.

What I Says: When it comes to the subject of this book consider me almost a blank slate, I know of the Spitfire and it’s importance but knew nothing about it’s designers or it’s origin story, I had never even heard of Mitchell, but I’m always willing to learn so jumped at a chance to read this book. Overall it was hugely interesting, at times with all the names and techincal jingo I did struggle but by the end I was keeping up ok. I also had to keep reminding myself that this was a book about Mitchell and not the Spitfire so not every page was going to be about that machine.

The book gives us the history about Mitchell and how he first got into engineering and plane design, how he moved up the ranks from an early age and all the planes he was involved in designing, it is so easy to fall into the trap of saying “planes he designed” when what this book is trying to show is that he only succeeded because of the team he built around himself. The book moves on to the Schnieder Trophy, where we get to see what a speed freak he was and where the absolutely stunning S4 was created:

The book shows that as events evolved in Europe and the threat of war loomed Mitchell becomes obsessed with creating a fighter, the end result being the Spitfire. Whilst he never got to see just what it achieved, it was because of the team he created that was the reason behind it’s success. One favourite story about Mitchell included here was soon after an op to remove cancer he had to wear a colostomy bag and he re-designed it so that it was more comfortable, a brilliant mind even in the toughest of times.

I do recommend this book especially if you already have prior knowledge as it will show you the true story about not just the father of the spitfire but the whole team of brilliant people who crafted it into existance.