Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #170261 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-02
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 429 pages

Review
Praise for 'Bomber Boys': 'This is the best kind of military history -- the kind in which the author never loses sight of the impact of war on its victims, German as well as British, and those who were left behind. "Bomber Boys" will remind the survivors that they and their lost comrades are not forgotten. And it reminds the rest of us what their war was all about.' Daniel Johnson, Evening Standard 'Bishop narrates with the combination of cool curiosity and warm engagement common to the best foreign correspondents (a category to which, of course, he belongs).! Above all, he reveals how humanity stubbornly survives even within inhumanity.! May Patrick Bishop's moving, sensitively written book gain many readers.' Frederick Taylor, Literary Review Praise for 'Fighter Boys': 'As a vivid chronicle of who the Battle of Britain pilots were, what motivated them, and why they were ultimately successful, "Fighter Boys" is unsurpassed.' Daily Telegraph More Praise for 'Fighter Boys' 'I know of no more thoughtful nor yet more moving study of their achievement'. Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph 'A superb account of the spirit and character of Fighter Command.' Independent 'A living, breathing monument to the fighter boys.' Mail on Sunday 'No one reading this book can possibly doubt the heroism of those involved!there can't be a finer history.' New Statesman 'Powerful yet restrained, at times almost unbearably touching.' Evening Standard

Daily Mail
'...Bishop has produced a superb human portrait of the men who did
so many remarkable things over Germany...'

Evening Standard
'As one of the bravest and best war correspondents alive, Bishop
has an instinctive sympathy for his subject...'

Customer Reviews

Old Lags of Bomber Command
As an ex Bomber Boy this book is first class and shows the modern youth how we responded to the threat of Nazi domination and despite the denigration of our efforts by modern 'hindsight' historians, most young people I have met do not look upon us as 'terrorists'. I for one have faith in our 21st century young men that they would respond as we did in 1943/45.

Magnificent
One word sums up this book: magnificent. It is history of the highest calibre. It is thoroughly researched and written with sensitivity and great style. It is a fitting memorial to the thousands of brave young men of Bomber Command who gave their lives in the cause of freedom. For too long have these men been forgotten and often reviled. Mr Bishop's brilliant book is a long overdue reminder that they deserve to be revered as much as the heroes of Fighter Command.

Patrick Bishop has allowed us to know them
Opposite my house (20km South of Dijon, Burgundy) past the war memorial in the village cemetery lie the crew members of a Short Sterling shot down on the 13th August 1943 by a Messerschmitt 109.

· Pilot: Pilot Officer Frederick MATTHEWS Royal Australian Air Force, 25 years old
· Bombardier: Flight Officer Franck HOLLAND Royal Australian Fleet Reserve, 32 years old
· Navigator: Flight Sergeant Alistair ROSE Royal New Zealand Air Force, 20 years old
· Gunner: Flight Sergeant Albert HARRIS Royal New Zealand Air Force, 23 years old
· Radio officer: Sergeant Kennet CORK Royal Air Force, 21 years old
· Mechanic: Sergeant John KNIGHT Royal Air Force, 27 years old
· Gunner: Sergeant Henry OTT Royal Air Force, 19 years old

What this book provides is a comprehensive understanding of the strategy and tactics of the bombing campaign. It is an explanation not a justification - none is needed - where the sheer terror of the aircrews experience is equalled by the horror of those beneath the bombs. What emerges are stories, how crews were recruited, trained, commanded and lived. The Stirling bomber that was shot down, I learned, was a poor aircraft giving its crews an excellent chance of death. And it was a cruel end, fighting and failing inside a burning plane there was no escape.

Each year our small village lays a wreath to them at the war memorial then process to the cemetery to play both national anthems on a bugle. I will join them, having read this book I have an appreciation of what they went through which is the best way to respect their memory. An excellent history, well written Patrick Bishop has allowed me to know these people. He has made them human. It left me shocked, having read so many war histories as "entertainment" here on my doorstep is the reality buried under seven immaculate headstones.