Book excerpt: Includes, 21 maps/diagrams and 17 Illustrations/photos The Royal Air Force is the oldest independent air force in the world, having gained its spurs over the trenches of Flanders in the First World War it was officially established in 1918. However it was during the Second World War that it would achieve its greatest successes yet, from an inauspicious start following post war budget cuts it would rise to become a decisive factor in the campaign to remove the Nazis from Europe and the Japanese from mainland Asia. The three volume Official History gives a sound and broad narrative of all of the campaigns, actions and engagements that the Royal Air Force was party to across Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia. The text was set out in manageable chapters, each dealing with a particular episode of the struggle against Fascism; and is written in an easy and accessible style free from the specialised vocabulary of flying or aerial combat. The first volume covers the period - 1939-1942; including The Initial Phoney War period. The Norway Expedition The Battle of France The Battle of Britain The Blitz The opening stages of the Battle of the Atlantic The opening stages of the North African Campaign.