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138presents no more than a summary, but the pictures, which were wellselected and well worth reproducing, might be regarded as a classiccollection of wartime photography.CGJThe Dam Busters by Jonathan Falconer. Sutton; 2003. %u00a325.Few RAF operations during the Second World War have attractedsuch interest, or epitomised so graphically the courage of RAF aircrew,as the raid mounted by No 617 Sqn on the night of 16-17 May 1943against the Ruhr dams. To commemorate the Sixtieth Anniversary of thisepic action, the highly regarded author of other books on BomberCommand, Jonathan Falconer, has produced a superbly researched andlavishly illustrated book that offers a wider perspective on the operation.The raid has previously attracted the attention of various authors and afilm maker, so some may question the need for another account. Oncethey have seen this book, I am sure that any such doubts willimmediately disappear.This book could perhaps best be described as the encyclopaedia of theDams Raid. Having set the backdrop to the bomber offensive, the authorrelates the development of the idea and value of attacking the Ruhrdams, Barnes Wallis%u2019s concept for the UPKEEP %u2018bouncing bomb%u2019, andthe trials that took place to prove his brilliant technological concept. Theauthor then concentrates on the formation of No 617 Sqn under itscharismatic leader, Guy Gibson, before describing the raid in greatdetail. With the aid of many photographs and excellent coloured maps,the reader is able to follow the progress of the raid very clearly. Theauthor%u2019s coverage of the aftermath from the German perspective isparticularly interesting, and is illustrated with many rare photographs.The author pays due tribute to the aircrew who flew on this operation,and he has devoted sections that describe their actions, their lateroperations, and the decorations that they earned. He concludes the bookwith a fascinating insight into the making of the classic film starringRichard Todd, who has written the Foreword to the book.The casual observer may, on first glance, think that this is anillustrated narrative of the raid, such is the extensive use of photographs,including some unique German material, and the quality of the technicaldrawings and maps, both of which are clear and very informative. Theuse of rare colour photographs of many of the aircrew adds a very