Bomber Command
The RAF's night offensive against Germany — 55,000 aircrew dead, German cities in ashes, and the question of what it achieved.
The Verdict
The book that made Max Hastings's name, and the first to weigh the RAF's bomber war with real honesty. Hastings tells the story of the night offensive against Germany from both ends — the extraordinary courage of crews who flew into the dark knowing the odds, and the hard questions about what the campaign cost and achieved. He neither condemns the airmen nor spares the strategy. The result is a model of how to write about a morally fraught operation: clear-eyed about the bravery and the bombing alike.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The RAF night-bombing campaign in full
- Readers who want the courage and the cost weighed honestly
- A foundational work of popular military history
- The moral debate handled with care
Look elsewhere if you want
- A celebratory account of the bomber war
- Readers wanting only the technical or the tactical
- The American daylight campaign (read masters_of_air)
Why We Rated It 4.6
Historical Context
RAF Bomber Command waged a sustained night offensive against German cities through much of the war, at enormous cost to its aircrew — around 55,000 were killed. Hastings's 1979 history examines both the experience of the crews and the strategic and moral questions surrounding the area-bombing policy associated with Sir Arthur Harris.
Criticisms & Debates
The strategic bombing of German cities remains among the war's most debated Allied policies, and Bomber Command was an early, influential attempt to assess it squarely — praised for honouring the crews while questioning the strategy, and read by some as too critical and by others as not critical enough.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Read It Alongside
Collector's Corner
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0760345207
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
Other Books About the Same Events
More by Max Hastings
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many RAF aircrew died in the bombing campaign?
- Around 55,000 of Bomber Command's aircrew were killed — one of the highest loss rates of any Allied force.
- Does Hastings defend or condemn the bombing?
- Neither simply. He honours the crews' courage while questioning the strategy's effectiveness and morality.