Book excerpt: The Hawker Hurricane was the RAF’s most valuable fighter asset in the Second World War, yet even today is relatively under-appreciated by the general public. Yet from the early months of the war it was the single engine fighter most often encountered by the Luftwaffe and during the Battle of Britain it made 80% of the successful interdictions of enemy formations. As this superbly researched book written by a leading authority on the air war reveals, this was only the start of the Hurricane’s war service. Its reliability and versatility ensured that variants saw action in more war theaters worldwide than any other fighter. Indeed, as the RAF’s Official History recalls ‘Everywhere the Ubiquitous Hurricane was to be seen’. This book follows the ‘Hurri’ to Russia, Malta, North Africa and as far afield as Burma, Sumatra and Java. Seaborne versions fought in the Battle of the Atlantic and defended the Mediterranean convoys. In the ground attack role Hurricane fighter bombers made countless sweeps over occupied Europe. Pilots’ first-hand accounts supplement the text. Readers are left in no doubt as to the massive contribution that the Hurricane made to ultimate victory.