Lancaster: The Biography. Tony Iveson with Brian Milton

by Tony Iveson

A biography of the Lancaster aircraft, focusing not just on its operational history, but on the crews who flew and maintained Lancasters, even talking to the German fighter pilots who flew against them.

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[John Gordon]

An impressive history of the Lancaster bomber during World War 2. Not only is the book thorough in technical detail but it also weaves the human story into this readable account. The authors own experiences provide an additional personal perspective to the drama. I am always amazed at the sheer doggedness of the allied aircrews as they went out night after night with the odds against them of completing a tour of 30 missions.
The story of the Lancaster from the German perspective was also fascinating, I would be happy to have read more. The book not only looks at the Lancaster aircraft, crews, armament and missions but also covers the cultural and human aspects regarding flying and crewing this marvellous aircraft.
For an apparently small book there is a lot of material here, perhaps it could have had slightly larger font - for we mature readers!

[Robert Hepple]

A book about wartime Lancaster missions, with lots of accounts by surviving aircrew. Co-written by a former Lancaster pilot who flew with 617 Squadron, this book has an unashamed bias in favour of the wartime policy of bombing civilians, and the moral minefield that subsequently arose. It makes you realise where that bias originates at the very least. The losses in men and machines sustained in achieving bombing missions is discussed at length, along with brief technical details of Lancasters produced. The memory recall of the aircrew after more than sixty years is very impressive, with accounts tending to be very well detailed. Some criticism is made of alleged errors perpetuated by other books about the operations of RAF Bomber Command. The book itself contains some very appropriate good quality illustrations, let down by a minor error in reversing the image of the flying Lancaster on the cover. Very enjoyable.