Round the Clock: The Experience of the Allied Bomber Crews Who Flew By Day and Night from England in the Second World War [Paperback]

Philip Kaplan (Author), Jack Currie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2001

"The best sort of popular military history."--Times Literary Supplement. "...will be referred to again and again."--Air Classics. Those who flew the bombing missions from British airfields in World War Two lived through an utterly unique experience, conducting an epic campaign that raged day and night. A remarkable testimony to this turbulent time--and what it felt like to be part of that struggle--features contemporary, personal documents from English and American flight crews, as well as over 160 unforgettable images from during and after the war. The British RAF Bomber Command carried out sustained nighttime raids on Germany, inflicting wide pattern destruction, while America's fledgling 8th Air Force successfully took on the challenge of precision daylight bombing--at a huge cost of lives and equipment. Poignant and significant.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

S Philip Kaplan is the co-author of The Few and an award winning art director and designer. He currently lives in Cheltenahm, Glos. Jack Currie was one of Britian's leading aviation writers. During WWII, he flew Lancaster bombers and DeHavilland Mosquitos. He died in 1996.

Product Details

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Seven Dials (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841881287
• ISBN-13: 978-1841881287
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,253,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts You In the Aircraft along with the Bomber Crews, July 5, 2006

By 

givbatam3 "givbatam3" (REHOVOT Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Round the Clock: The Experience of the Allied Bomber Crews Who Flew By Day and Night from England in the Second World War (Paperback)

I am frankly in awe of the men who made up the aircrew of the strategic bombing compaign, both of RAF Bomber Command and the USAAF. These men flew on dangerous raids night-after-night or day-after-day, respectively, and took the war into the heart of Nazi Germany, particularly at a time when the Allies were hard-pressed and Germany controlled much of the continent of Europe.
This book is designed to give the reader a feel for all aspects of the life of these aircrew, from their lives at the bases, to how they viewed their aircraft and equipment and finally what it was like to fly the missions from the point-of-view of the different jobs of the aircrew. The book also describes the dedicated work of the ground crews that kept the planes flying, what happened to men who cracked under the strain, and how the British and Americans differed in their approaches to running an Air Force. The book is of a "coffee-table" style, with lush color photographs, but there is a lot of meat in the substance.
Special "treats" include a photo of screen star Jimmy Stewart revisiting in the 1980's the airfield where he served as Operations Officer, and a transcript of the famous broadcast legendary CBS newsman Edward R Murrow made describing the mission he flew with Bomber Command against Berlin at the time when the aircrews were suffering significant casualties.
In summary, this book is a fitting tribute to those thousands of young men who sacrificed so much in the skies over Germany to contribute to the victory over tyranny.