The book records the service details of the airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain in considerable detail. Where known, postings and their dates are included, as well as promotions, decorations, and successes claimed flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death, and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs. Inevitably the high achievers who survived tend to have the longest entries, but those who were killed very quickly, sometimes even on their first sortie, are given equal status.
This latest, third, edition includes new names and corrected spellings, as well as many new photographs. Plenty of the entries have been extended with freshly acquired information. The stated nationalities of some of the airmen have been reexamined and, for example, one man always considered to be Australian is now known to have been Irish.