Product Description

First published in 2002 to enormous critical acclaim The Bristol Blenheim draws on Graham Warner's unparalleled knowledge of this remarkable aircraft. A former Blenheim owner, Graham has fully updated and revised over 700 entries with recently unearthed information from both the Air Historical Branch of the Ministry of Defence and many private sources to provide a truly comprehensive account of the Blenheim's origins, development and operational history.

An exhaustively researched narrative backed up by over 400 photographs and illustrations detail the aircraft's roles not just in the European and Far Eastern Theatres of War, the Middle East campaigns in the Western Desert and from Malta, but also the lesser-known air operations in Iraq, Syria and East Africa.

The Blenheim's wide-ranging operational career as a day and night bomber, a low-level attack aircraft, night fighter, long-range day fighter, reconnaissance and training machine are examined in depth. A section of colour profiles highlight many of the aircraft's variants and liveries.

Supplemented by comprehensive, fully updated and informative appendices detailing all Blenheim losses including aircraft serial numbers and crew members, this remarkable book represents the culmination of Graham Warner's close association and continuing in-depth research into this remarkable aircraft.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1053193 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-31
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Maxwell Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook)
‘It really is the most marvellously comprehensive historical record which will remain as the definitive history.’

Flypast
‘a classic from the day it left the printers’

Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom KCB CBE DEO DFC** AFC
‘I don’t know of any single aircraft book with so much detailed information. Marvellous!

Customer Reviews

Beautiful book for a beautiful aircraft
Quite simply - superb. This is obviouly a labour of love for the author, his devotion for the Blenheim shows through every page. But this is not just a dry, technical chronicle of the design and construction of the Bristol Blenheim, it is also a superb history of the aircraft's development and use.

To his great credit, the author has made both the aircraft and the people who flew it living, breathing characters. You will come away from this work with a superb admiration for the young men who flew this most unfortunate of bombers through five years of World War 2. Their stories are often tragic, yet uplifting in a way, for they were surely the very epitome of bravery and commitment.

The photographs are vast in number, the text is completely rivetting. If you are an aviation fan, the message is simple. Buy this book, for it sets the standard to which all others must aspire.

The Definitive Work
I have had a long-held passion for the Bristol Blenheim and the men who flew in them but have only now found a book to do justice to either. This work is truly a labour of love and reflects the author's own abiding passion for the Blenheim (being the owner of the only one still flying this we already knew!).

The level of detail is impressive without unbalancing the book; it remains a highly readable account throughout. Each aspect of the aircraft's service, in whichever theatre of war, is set in a clearly explained context. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is how it highlights the number of unique achievements by Blenheims and their crews: the first airborne radar interception; the first Fighter Command strike against Nazi Germany; the first British aircraft to attack Italian and Japanese forces too...., the list goes on.

The early years of the war in the air are often neglected - with the notable exception of the Battle of Britain (and how many recognise the role Blenheims played in attacking the German invasion fleet whilst the Hurricanes and Spitfires grabbed the headlines?). This book does much to correct this skewed perception of the air war and serves to remind us all of the courage and devotion of those who had to fight in an aircraft, revolutionary when it was first conceived but increasingly obsolescent as the war dragged on.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Wonderful
Wonderful book. I bought it for my father and he loved it. He especially loved being mentioned by name.