The daring British air raid that inspired the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In November 1940 Britain was isolated in its stand against Nazi Germany and its ally, Italy. The country could not afford to lose control of the Mediterranean, but the Royal Navy was already overstretched by the U-boat war and the threat of invasion. Italy's fleet of modern battleships presented a grave threat to our communications with Egypt and the Suez Canal.

On the night of 11 November 1940, 42 members of the Fleet Air Arm took off in 21 obsolete 'Swordfish' biplanes, launched from HMS Illustrious. Their target: the Italian fleet anchorage at Taranto. Pressing home their attack in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire and searchlights, they torpedoed and sank three battleships. Incredibly, all but two of the biplanes survived. The Italian fleet was crippled and the world took note that Britain was far from defeated. No-one was more impressed than the Japanese, who noted how a fleet in harbour could be demolished by air attack.

In this new account of the Royal Navy's most daring operation of the Second World War, David Wragg draws on British and Italian records as well as interviews with the aircrew, to tell the full story of a night that changed the course of the war.

A former contributor to THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH and THE SPECTATOR, David Wragg is the author of some twenty books on aviation and naval history, of which eight have been published abroad. His books include JANE'S AIR FORCES OF THE WORLD (2003), THE FLEET AIR ARM HANDBOOK 1939-45 (Sutton, 2001 and 2003), described by one magazine 'As good a single volume on the subject as your reviewer has located'; CARRIER COMBAT (Sutton, 1997 and The Naval Institute Press, USA); and WINGS OVER THE SEA (David & Charles, 1979 and ARCO, USA).