Bader : The Man and His Men

by Michael Burns

Despite losing both legs in a pre-war accident, Douglas Bader returned to active service, leading squadrons to victory in the Battle of Britain. This volume portrays Bader as a pilot and leader, whose endeavours and techniques were emulated by his colleagues.

Genres: Aviation, World War II, Military History, Military Fiction, Royal Air Force, Biography, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

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Reviews

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was rather to technical and tactical for me - I was hoping for something biographical in terms of character and personality beyond the flying ace.

In the extensive descriptions of air battles I found it quite hard to visualise what was going on and getting a bit frustrated with it - this is probably my own fault and if I had stuck with it, I am sure I would have learned more but eventually I started to skip fairly large chunks of the book at which point it seems better to give it up and find another book that gives me what I am looking for.

[Robert Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant biography about an exceptional human being. Exciting close up and personal 'views' of the fighter plane action in great detail plus the inevitable politics of war. Bader is a real 'boys own' hero, you could not really make him up as a fictional character, he would not have been credible, but it is that in essence that makes him an outstanding figure of the air war. The man with no legs that led the Battle of Britain and determines air fighter tactics for the RAF. If there is a criticism to be made, the book is a little too well researched and comprehensive in its detail to be the great story it could be. Nonetheless I am proud to have read of this man and his achievements and his mistakes.

[Les Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of the book. Some parts were even exciting, as you'd expect of stories of air battles etc. However, I found the frequent use of acronyms and other labels made many paragraphs unintelligble, or at least difficult to read.

In a sense, it made for speed-reading because I skipped an awful lot of unneeded information.

Still, the author does reveal much of Bader's personality and his strengths & weaknesses, as well as his successes and those of his men.

[Gordon Holloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information, but not well written overall. I felt like I was reading an official after action report for long segments at a time.