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Winkle
- The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot
- Narrated by: Steve John Shepherd, Paul Beaver
- Length: 11 hrs
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Winkle
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
The daring life story and astonishing adventures of Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown - Britain's greatest-ever pilot.
Small in stature but immense in reputation and talent, there was more to Eric 'Winkle' Brown than met the eye.
The pilot who set the standard for Britain's golden age of aviation, Winkle cemented his worldwide fame with incredible skill, extraordinary daring - and nerves of steel when things went wrong. From shooting down Luftwaffe bombers from the deck of a carrier in the Battle of the Atlantic and narrowly escaping death when his ship was torpedoed, to accumulating a never-to-be repeated litany of world records and firsts as a test pilot, his unparalleled flying career saw him take the controls of over four hundred different kinds of aircraft - more than any other pilot in history.
A rival to Chuck Yeager and hero to Neil Armstrong, by the time of his appearance on Desert Island Disc's 1000th episode Winkle had become a legend in his own lifetime, and by his death, a national treasure.
But despite his enormous fame, there have always been mysteries at the heart of Winkle's story. To truly understand this fascinating but secretive man is to grapple with questions that have intrigued and confounded biographers throughout his extraordinary life.
Drawing on previously unseen documents and unfettered access to Winkle's own personal archive Paul Beaver records a life with more twists and turns than a Battle of Britain dogfight - which was, of course, something Winkle had taken part in himself - uncovering the complex and enigmatic man behind the legend - the real story of Britain's greatest pilot.
A story Winkle insisted could only be told after his death . . .
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What listeners say about Winkle
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 29-03-24
A great pilot
I really like the honest appraisal of Eric Brown, both good and bad. The fact that Captain Brown was recognised as a flawed individual did not detract from his achievements but disappointed me in that he could have attained so much more. Still we are all flawed to some degree.
A great book and a really interesting subject. Thank you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- welease-wodger
- 11-09-23
excellent
A truly inspirational man. His
will never be seen again. A must read .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Brookfield
- 10-12-23
An extraordinary man
Fascinating story of someone who lived life to the full .. and made a difference to aviation at the same time.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- john
- 13-12-23
Excellent
No matter how much you think you know about the Second World War, there’s always something new to learn. Eric’s story is both fascinating and highly informative.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 22-06-24
The story of a quite remarkable life, warts and all.
Winkle's adventures are all rather interesting. His working relationships were far from perfect. He rather upset (deservedly in my opinion) a certain Secretary of State for Defence by the name of Denis Healey. Sadly that episode prevents him from reaching Flag Rank. I feel that Britain lost out as a result. It's a shame that he never received a knighthood. I feel one was deserved.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Dave Burn
- 02-08-23
Real life adventure story
Excellent listen. At times reads like a boys own action story. Great book about great man.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- waterloo
- 29-10-23
Great Story of a “Interesting man “
A very honest and uncompromising account of a man we shall not see the likes of again.
A no holds barred story of a man who seems to have met EVERYONE , all but Hitler and Stalin of any note during WW2 and many more after the war.
It is interesting to note however that like Douglas Bader and Guy Gibson Brown had some personality issues and was not universally liked by all who encountered him during his career. Perhaps this is common in great flyers .
You get the feeling you might not have liked him as a man if you had ever met him but had to admire the pilot , again much like Bader and Gibson .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kevin Leigh
- 17-07-24
Fascinating story of an amazing test pilot & challenging person.
Like so many books I listen to, this expanded my knowledge of something I knew little about. If you love anything to do with flying, especially from the time of WWII through the early period of jet propulsion exploration when Britain’s aircraft industry was at its zenith, this book is fascinating. The details of the aircraft, the people, the politics and the character of Winkle are all tackled with frankness. He was an incredible pilot and went on to achieve some hugely important things in aviation. He was also a difficult and demanding person, who it seems embellished some of his life’s story. As the author comments, in the overall story arc this probably matters little. As the author says, we are unlikely to see people like Winkle again because the C21 is so different from C20 which forged people like Winkle. He is that rare person who flew so many German and Axis aircraft as well as those of the Allies. Moreover he met famous Germans connected to wartime aviation against whom he had been fighting only a few years before. A very enjoyable listen!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- FAB
- 19-06-23
An interesting take
As others have said I do not wish to spoil the listening of the book for others. There are a few basic errors and mispronunciations. Generally the book gives a good overall picture of the man, no doubtably a great pilot but a square peg in a round hole in the navy, never really fitting in with limited views on what makes a good officer. Pride and ego in his own ability, under confidence in himself show throughout.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- sean
- 13-07-23
Excellent story
Excellent true story and very nicely narrated, seems to be a very balanced view of an amazing man and pilot,
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1 person found this helpful