Books on the Avro Lancaster

The Dam Buster Raid - A reappraisal 70 years on, Alan W. Cooper. More of a re-telling than a reappraisal, the accounts of the raid and its aftermath is good, but the build-up to the attack is less well handled. Most valuable when it looks at the post-raid and post-war lives of the participants - an area that I haven’t seen covered in such detail before. [read full review]

Legacy of the Lancaster, Martin W Bowman. A collection of eighteen first hand accounts and other articles looking at the experiences of Lancaster crewmen (and a handful of their German opponents). This isn't an attempt at another history of the Lancaster, but instead is a series of snapshots of the experiences of the men who flew this iconic aircraft. [read full review]

Dambusters: Operation Chastise 1943, Douglas C. Dildy. A well illustrated and well organised account of the famous Dambusters raid, looking at the development of the bouncing bomb, the planning for the raid, the raid itself and its aftermath. A good account of one of the best known bombing raids of the Second World War, supported by some clear and well designed maps. [read full review]

Lancaster Squadron 1942-43, Jon Lake. This book looks at the early career of the Avro Lancaster. During this period the Lancaster was just one of a number of aircraft used by Bomber Command, important amongst them the Wellington, the Stirling and the Halifax. Only by the end of this period do we see the Lancaster begin to emerge as the most important aircraft in Bomber Command. Lake covers the wide range of activities performed by the Lancaster squadrons during this squadron, including the famous Dam Busters raid. [see more]

Lancaster Squadrons 1944-45, Jon Lake. A well balanced look at the career of the Avro Lancaster in 1944-45, the period most famous for the systematic night bombardment of German cities. This was also the period that saw the Lancaster used to support the invasion of France, and the period that saw 617 Squadron drop Barnes Wallis's huge streamlined bombs with great precision. [see more]

The Avro Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln, Richard A. Franks. Although this is described as a modellers guide to the Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln, it is also a very good history of the aircraft, with a fantastic amount of infomation, covering the technical details of the aircraft, its squadron service and production figures. A very valuable guide to one of the best known Second World War aircraft. [see more]

Lancaster: A Bombing Legend, Nick Radell and Mike Vines. This is a fantastic pictorial tribute to the Avro Lancaster, filled with beautiful colour pictures of the few surviving Lancaster bombers, on the ground and in flight. [see more]