First Light

Original Edition

By: Geoffrey Wellum

Narrated by: Andrew Brooke

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of First Light by Geoffrey Wellum, read by Andrew Brooke.

Two months before the outbreak of the Second World War, eighteen-year-old Geoffrey Wellum becomes a fighter pilot with the RAF...

Desperate to get in the air, he makes it through basic training to become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. Thrust into combat almost immediately, Wellum finds himself flying several sorties a day, caught up in terrifying dogfights with German Me 109s.

Over the coming months he and his fellow pilots play a crucial role in the Battle of Britain. But of the friends that take to the air alongside Wellum many never return.

Critic reviews

Vivid, wholly convincing, compelling. One of the best memoirs for years about the experience of flying in war (Max Hastings)

It took him 35 years to turn his notebooks into a narrative, and the result is a highly personal account of what it is like to face mortal combat, day and night, and what it does to a man who is barely more than a boy (Ben Macintyre)

An intimate account . . . rich in detail

An extraordinarily deeply moving and astonishingly evocative story. Reading it, you feel you are in the Spitfire with him, at 20,000ft, chased by a German Heinkel, with your ammunition gone

A brilliantly fresh, achingly written memoir. Thrilling and frightening on virtually every page . . . Wellum takes you into battle with him. A book for all ages and generations, a treasure

Amazingly fresh and immediate . . . absolutely honest, it is an extraordinarily gripping and powerful story

There have been countless books about the Battle of Britain. But the combination of immediacy - Geoffrey Wellum had jotted down notes in an exercise book at the time - and distance - another 35 years would pass before he expanded his notes into a narrative - gives this account extraordinary depth and resonance . . . First Light will rank among the finest of Second World War memoirs

One of the most gripping personal accounts of aerial warfare ever written

Wellum's story is astonishing . . . moving yet startlingly clear-eyed

No other account of flying in the Battle of Britain has been articulated as well as Geoffrey's in First Light

The best aviation book I have ever read

Excellent narration and written extremely well. The perfect amount of nerd stuff for pilots and history buffs but still an easy listen, and it's even about Spitfires. 10/10

So much more than a book about a fighter pilot

I lowered the speed so I wouldn't miss a word. It was much less bravado and much more human

Vivid and intense

Wellum's prose is sharp and clear. He recreates the desperate state of Britain in 1940 and the unparalleled thrill of flying Spitfires at 19 years old with the immediacy of a post-battle report and delicious detail that will satisfy any would-be fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. Outstanding memoir!

One of the best

I love memoirs in all wars, have listened to hundreds, this is right up there with the best.

One of the best

Highly recommended, one of the best raf / Battle of Britain books. Great narration added to this also.