John

Great story, the wrong narrator

Revisado: 10-31-23

This book, split into three parts, is one of the great accounts of WW1.

This first part is let down by the choice of an American narrator. He is OK as a narrator in general, but completely wrong for a book written substantially in the first person by Winston Churchill!

Happily parts 2 and 3 are narrated by Christian Rodska who manages to capture the majesty and emotion of Churchill's prose by sounding very much like Churchill himself.

If anyone is put off by the narration of part 1, don't let that stop you listening to parts two and three: they are excellent!

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

A bit basic

Revisado: 07-05-22

These lectures are well delivered and easy to follow and understand, however much of the content covers basic things that will look a bit obvious to anyone with any real general management experience.

For an undergraduate business student they do provide a useful framework and pointers to things worth exploring further.

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Great story badly read

Revisado: 01-04-21

Gibson’s account of air fighting in WW2 is authentic and fascinating, especially his account of the preparation and execution of the Dams raid.

Unfortunately it is rather let down by the monotonous delivery of the reader who didn’t even bother to learn to pronounce the names of the targets correctly. If ever there is a new recording of Winnie the Pooh, he would make a great voice for Eeyore!

That said, the book is well worth getting for the content alone!

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Great writer, poor book

Revisado: 06-03-20

Wilbur Smith is a great writer with superb powers of description and an unmatched ability to bring a story to life.

I have read many of his books and really liked all of them. Unfortunately, this is the first one that I have not liked. There is no real plot to it until quite near the end, and it comprises a series of accounts of hunting expeditions involving characters that play no part in the development of the real plot interspersed with some rather syrupy Mills and Boon bodice ripper like passages.

It also fails badly in the area of realism containing some utterly implausible action as well as at least one significant and obvious anachronism.

When the plot finally does develop in the last couple of hours of the book, the action is so obviously contrived that it left me looking forward to the end of the book and, for the very first time reading one of Wilbur Smith books, contemplating giving up on it.

All that said, the way that the story is told has all of Wilbur Smith‘s usual qualities and, obviously, it hasn’t stopped other people reviewing here enjoying it. It also won’t put me off reading other books by this excellent author.

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Simply brilliant!

Revisado: 12-16-18

For anyone familiar with Antony Beevor’s other books: here he is at his best.

For anyone who has not read them and has an interest in military history: this book is a must!

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Brilliant account of WW2 flying

Revisado: 06-14-17

This is a simply brilliant account of an ordinary pilot's experience in World War II. It combines both the drama and danger faced by these young men with lots of anecdotes about what it was like to be a servicemen at the time.

I am private pilot myself and am based very close to where the author was stationed. I have flown over the disused airfields in the story without realising their significance.

The writing style is engaging and very enjoyable.

My only criticism (written as a Brit!) is that the narrator did not bother to research pronunciation of British place names. Initially this is amusing, but later it really starts to grate!

Despite that, I'd thoroughly recommend it!

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Did Bernard Cornwell write all of this book?

Revisado: 02-20-15

The book contains a huge amount of fascinating and very convincing detail. It is well written and the performance is excellent.

It is, however, very different from Cornwells other books with a rather melodramatic and, frankly, unconvincing plot.

It's almost as if someone else has written the basic story and then Bernard Cornwell has worked on it to add the detail and atmosphere which he does so well.

This is the first of his books that I have read or listened to that I would rate with less than five stars.

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Deserves 6 stars

Revisado: 07-26-14

Would you listen to Bomber again? Why?

Yes, and I am certain that I will. If you ever want to know what it was really like to be involved in a WW2 night bombing raid from the point of view of all those involved on both sides, read this book!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Bomber?

There are so many that it's difficult to choose, but the fate of Lambert, the English bomber pilot, after all the raids he has done and everything he has been through sums the whole thing up beautifully.

What about Richard Burnip’s performance did you like?

He has a measured delivery that does not sensationalise whilst at the same time never let's you get bored.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It came as close to making me cry as any book I have read / listened to

Any additional comments?

I spend time with WW2 RAF veterans at an annual event and these interactions just make the events depicted in the book more immediate and more personal. I can imagine these old men in their youth going on these raids, not just the one time depicted in this book but several times a week. And they are the lucky ones who made it through. In WW2, RAF Bomber Command aircrew took almost 50% fatal casualties, and hundreds of thousands of German civilians died in the raids they flew. This book makes those statistics very believable.

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Great book. Poor narrator.

Revisado: 06-02-11

All of the Hornblower books are excellent and this one is no exception. Forrester is a master of his craft and his detailed knowledge of how the British navy worked and how ships were sailed make the action believable and convincing.

Unfortunately this audio book is spoiled for me by the narrator who has a slow and mournful delivery that sounds like a vicar on Valium preaching a long and boring sermon.

The other books in this series are read by Christian Rodska who does a much better job.

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Great book. Poor narrator.

Revisado: 06-02-11

All of the Hornblower books are excellent and this one is no exception. Forrester is a master of his craft and his detailed knowledge of how the British navy worked and how ships were sailed make the action believable and convincing.

Unfortunately this audio book is spoiled for me by the narrator who has a slow and mournful delivery that sounds like a vicar on Valium preaching a long and boring sermon.

The other books in this series are read by Christian Rodska who does a much better job.

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esto le resultó útil a 20 personas