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133men involved and this shines through the remorselessly depressingaccounts of the aeroplanes that failed to return. Apart from being obligedto fly an increasingly outmoded aeroplane, they were expected to do it inthe most hazardous of operational circumstances. We are frequentlyreminded of the losses sustained in the course of Bomber Command%u2019snight offensive but the losses borne during 1940-41 by the Blenheimcrews of No 2 Gp operating over France, and against shipping in theNorth Sea and the waters around Malta were just as heavy, as were thoseexperienced by squadrons based in North Africa, Greece and the FarEast. It was not unknown for units operating under field conditions inthese overseas theatres to fight themselves to a standstill, eventuallyrunning out of aeroplanes or crews, or both, sometimes in the course of asingle mission. Yet, once the squadron had been rebuilt, thereplacements would doggedly do it all over again.There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the Blenheim, it wassimply out of date. It was also the aeroplane with which much of theRAF was equipped for the first three years of the war, three years thatwere characterised by defeat, rather than victory. As a result, we tend toremember the war-winning Spitfires, Lancasters, Typhoons andMosquitos, while the Blenheim has become the %u2018Forgotten Bomber%u2019.Graham Warner%u2019s admirably comprehensive and authoritative book putsthe record straight. Highly recommended.CGJVenom by David Watkins. Sutton; 2003. %u00a325.Sub-titled as the complete history of the de Havilland Venom and SeaVenom, David Watkins%u2019 nicely presented and amply illustrated book (Imade it about 175 photographs and drawings) lives up to its billing. Thecontent is everything that one would expect. There is a comprehensiveaccount of the type%u2019s genesis and of the early trials and tribulationssuffered by both the single- and two-seat variants. This is followed bychapters describing the use of the Venom, ashore and afloat, by itsseveral operators. Most of this space is devoted to the RAF and FAA butthere is good coverage of its employment by the air forces or navies ofAustralia, Iraq, France, Sweden, Venezuela and Switzerland.The Venom was never intended to be more than an interim type tobridge the gap between the first generation Vampire and Meteor and themuch higher performance era represented by the Hunter, Swift and