July 1990 marked the 50th anniversary of one of the most critical and decisive struggles in the European theater of World War II. Following the withdrawal of British forces at Dunkirk and the fall of France, the Battle of Britain pitted some 2,800 Luftwaffe aircraft against some 650 serviceable RAF fighter aircraft. For the next four months Britain faced daily attacks against airfields and military installations, ports, and civilian and industrial centers. The failure of the Luftwaffe to overwhelm and destroy the RAF undercut German efforts to mount an invasion of Britain, and by November...