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  • The Battle of the Beams

  • The Secret Science of Radar That Turned the Tide of the Second World War
  • By: Tom Whipple
  • Narrated by: Tom Whipple
  • Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (36 ratings)

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The Battle of the Beams

By: Tom Whipple
Narrated by: Tom Whipple
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Summer 1939. War is coming.

The British believe that, through ingenuity and scientific prowess, they alone have a war-winning weapon: radar. They are wrong. The Germans have it too.

They believe that their unique maritime history means their pilots have no need of navigational aids. Flying above the clouds they, like the seafarers of old, had the stars to guide them, and that is all that is required. They are wrong. Most of the bombs the RAF will drop in the first years of the war land miles from their target.

They also believe that the Germans, without the same naval tradition, will never be able to find targets at night. They are, again, wrong. In 1939 the Germans don't just have radar to spot planes entering their airspace, they have radio beams to guide their own planes into enemy airspace.

War is coming, and it is to be a different kind of war. It will be fought, as expected, on land and sea and in the air. It will also be fought on the airwaves. It will be fought between scientists on both sides at the forefront of knowledge, and the agents and commandos they relied on to bolster that knowledge.

Luckily there was one young engineer, Reginald Jones, helping the British government with their own scientific developments. In June 1940, when Jones quietly explained the beams the Germans had devised to a room full of disbelieving sceptics, Churchill later described the moment as like sitting in the parlour while Sherlock Holmes finally reveals the killer. Churchill immediately supported Jones's efforts to develop radar technology that went on to help the Allies win the war.

Relying on first-hand accounts from Reginald Jones as well as papers recently released by the Admiralty, The Battle of the Beams fills a huge missing piece in the canon of WW2 literature. It is a tale that combines history, science, derring do and dogged determination and will appeal as much to fans of WW2 history as to those fascinated by the science behind the beams that changed our lives.

The radio war of 1939-45 is one of the great scientific battles in history. This is the story of that war.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Tom Whipple (P)2023 Penguin Audio
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What listeners say about The Battle of the Beams

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Gripping

I listened intently because it was gripping, very well written and narrated and a very different view of WW2 and the development and use of radio waves and radar.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Great read.

Very fascinating and interesting book. So much went on behind the scenes which I did not know about. Lots of heroes too.

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Technologiehistorie vom Feinsten

Anschaulich und spannend erzählte Geschichte der parallelen Radarentwicklung in England und Deutschland während WK2.

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Captivating

A very well researched book. Hard to stop listening, and I finished it very quickly.
Great narration also.

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Enthralling story of science at war

I was familiar with the basics of this amazing story but the author brings it to life like never before. Whilst it is a story about science, it is really open to everyone and as accessible and friendly as a Bill Bryson book. I absolutely loved it and devoured every word - I can’t recommend it enough.

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A lively and engaging story

I’ve listened to many audiobooks about World War II, most of them very good. This book addresses something all of those other books neglected: the importance of our research into radio and radar. If you’ve got any interest at all in World War II, then I think you’ll find this very satisfying book. The author also does a terrific job of narration, something very unusual in my experience.

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Fascinating - war in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The fascinating story of the war in the electromagnetic spectrum in WW2. Based around the story of RV Jones. Well written and read - I was gripped from start to finish. Keep listening to the very end for the twist in the tail in the postscript.

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Cracking history of early Radio Deception

And excellent look at early Radio Deception and those efforts during WWII. Compliments RV Jones’s Most Secret War and adds far more.

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Very interesting story

Sometimes, individuals can make a huge difference. R V Jones and his colleagues were literally in the right place at the right time, and we all owe them an enormous debt. Wars are won by those fighting, but in this case, scientists and engineers played a vital role.

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I really wish the narrator would pronounce X-Gerät correctly

I liked the book but it was really distracting how the narrator mispronounced X-Gerät. It is not x-ger-rate it’s x-ger-rart

The sound quality was not great either to be honest.

Those things aside, I would still recommend this book.

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