The book is written in a pleasant style, but serious enough for the reader to understand what these men went through. Amomentous work entailing a great deal of research but well worth the effort to put before the public the role of the men, who, without thought of the dangers and the consequences they might bring, volunteered to fly and were assigned to the bombers.

Bill Spence, Yorkshire Gazette and Herald

Covering the years 1939 to May 1942, this is the first volume of a five part work providing an insight into the experiences of Bomber Command throughout World War Two. It is incredibly detailed, and full of first hand accounts of life in Bomber Command. Each narrative is carefully placed into the wider perspective, showing how Bomber command steadily developed from its first awkward onslaughts on Germany. Problems of poor navigation and inaccurate bombing were endemic in these first few years. Some of the descriptions are extremely vivid such as planes coming back 'perforated like a cheese grater'. An interesting and unusual angle is the experience of an airforce wife, travelling illicitly to accompany their husbands from base to base, finding accommodation wherever they could just so that they could have some element of normal family life. Extremely detailed, this book will prove essential to anyone interested in military and airforce history. 3 stars.

www.monstersandcritics.com

Few campaigns wages during the Second World War continue to excite more hotly-contested debate than the RAF’s bombing offensive against Hitler’s Reich.
The scale of the assault was enormous. It dominated the nations war effort and the headlines. For four years it represented Britain’s only means of seriously hurting Hitler’s war machine. And the monumental nature of the undertaking is reflected in the five-volume history being compiled by Norwich-based aviation historian Martin Bowman.
Now he is putting the research of more than 30 years to great use as he embarks on an epic odyssey to record the successes and the failures that characterised the greatest bombing offensive in history. As ever the accent is on the men at the sharp end and their stories, often told in their own words are at the heart of his story. In the first of the Bomber Command: Reflections of War series, Bowman traces the early struggles and setbacks as the RAF crews climbed a steep learning curve in their attempts to make an effective contribution to Britain’s war effort.

Eastern Daily Press, 18th Feb 2012

A clear chronology of the bombing campaign. This will be a series worth collecting.

Britain at War – Feb 2012