This book has a curious similarity to the Bible. Apparently everyone owns it. That doesn't mean they've read it.

The cover of my copy proudly proclaims it a National Bestseller. It is good to see a history sell well, and especially good to see a history involving supreme loyalty and tragic loss be successful. But getting through it was, for me, an incredible chore. The problem is, this is basically a chronicle -- "On such and such date, thus-and-so units of 6 Group flew to somewhere, dropped some bombs, suffered some losses. Here's a human interest story about one of those losses. And so and so won a medal."

Repeat about 600 times, and you have this book. There are a few pages describing the broader objectives, describing the aircraft, discussing the obsessive mindset of "Bomber" Harris, but mostly, it's the story of the raids. After enough of that, it really got hard to tell them apart, even if you ignore all the casualties (most of them civilian) caused by those bombs.

The flip side is, if there are tales of hundreds of raids, there are probably thousands of accounts of individual heroism and suffering. Perhaps, if you are a relative of one of those who fought and died, the book becomes more personal and more meaningful. I am not a Canadian; perhaps it makes all the difference. But if you, like me, lack a personal connection to this book, you may find it very hard going.

Which, when you think about it, is what most of those bomber crews -- so few of whom came back -- experienced also. ( )

c1991.