The Courage of the Small Hours

Fascinating, well written, and well researched, I really enjoyed this exploration of the role of Lancaster bombers in the war. Striking a perfect balance between discussions of strategic and operational matters and the more personal stories of the crews and support staff, it leaves you with a full picture of the importance of the Lancaster bomber. Speaking of balance, I did appreciate the author's mentions of German casualties and effects of our bombing raids, all too often overlooked.

The back blurb and introduction does rather lead you to believe it'll be some kind of detective story about piecing together the stories of the crashes at RAF Syerston, but in fact it's a lot more broad reaching than that, all for the better I think.

A hidden gem of a book, would definitely recommend. I picked mine up at RAF Cosford on a whim and am very glad I did.