Harris turns out to be a good writer and this treads just the right line between personal biography and historical record.

As a history of Bomber Command, from the high-level decision making, and also for Harris' justifications for most of the choices made, this is essential reading for anyone interested in WWII. It will never quieten the questions about whether Harris was right (on either aspect, the moral justification or the cost in crew lives) but it does largely show why Harris made the choices he did and how narrow his options had been.

This shouldn't be read in isolation from broader campaign histories or some technical history of the aircraft, avionics and weapons, but it's a very good book and fills a space that nothing else can. ( )

Obviously this is Harris' view, but that makes it essential reading - you cannot reasonably critique Harris or Bomber Command without reading this first and thinking quite deeply about what he says.

And it's well written with lots of interesting detail and perspectives to boot. ( )