Merlin

The most iconic planes of World War II – the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, de Havilland Mosquito and the Avro Lancaster – were all powered by the same engine, The Rolls-Royce Merlin. The story of the Merlin is one of British ingenuity at its height, of the science and problem solving that resulted in a war-winning design.

This book encompassed the history of powered flight, from the genius of the Wright Brothers to the horrors of World War I, and the first crossing of the Atlantic to the 1920s celebrity pilots who competed for the Schneider Trophy between nations on the brink of war.

At the heart of this story are the glamorous pilots, many of whom died in their pursuit of speed; the engineers, like Henry Royce, who sketched the engine that would win World War II in the sand of his local beach; and Lady Lucy Houston, who after the Wall Street Crash funded the development of the Rolls-Royce engine and the legendary Spitfire. Never was so much owed by so many to so few – and without the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the few would have been powerless.