The Last Enemy

* The moving story of a WWII fighter-pilot's epic recovery after being shot down *A harrowing reflection on the ordeals of combat *Commemorative edition of a recognised classic Described by critics as 'not a book written by a pilot about the war, but a book written by a writer about a pilot', The Last Enemy tells the story of a young writer's experiences as a Spitfire pilot in training and during the Battle of Britain, and of the life he led after being shot down. From his carefree days at Trinity College, Oxford, through the youthful excitement of his training, to the horror of being shot down and his slow and painful recovery, Richard Hillary has created a masterpiece of reflection and a testament to youth cruelly forsaken. Hillary's ordeal left him temporarily blinded, his face and hands savagely burned and terribly disfigured, and he endured repeated operations and skin grafts. While undergoing this harrowing experience he questioned whether he might fly again, and if not what he could do to honour those that had died. His conclusion was to write, and this remarkable book is the fruits of his resolution. This commemorative edition of The Last Enemy, originally published in 2003 sixty years after his death, contains a Foreword by 'D.M.W.', to whom the book was originally dedicated.