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  • Dam Busters

  • The Race to Smash the Dams, 1943
  • By: James Holland
  • Narrated by: James Holland
  • Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (458 ratings)
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Dam Busters cover art

Dam Busters

By: James Holland
Narrated by: James Holland
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Summary

It was the night of May 16th, 1943. Nineteen specially adapted Lancaster bombers take off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, each with a huge nine thousand pound cylindrical bomb strapped underneath them. Their mission: to destroy three dams deep within the German heartland, which provide the lifeblood to the industries supplying the Third Reich's war machine.

From the outset, it was an almost impossible task, a suicide mission: to fly low and at night in formation over many miles of enemy occupied territory at the very limit of the Lancasters' capacity, and drop a new weapon, which had never been tried operationally before, at a precise height of just 60 feet from the water at some of the most heavily defended targets in Germany. More than that, the entire operation had to be put together in less than 10 weeks.

When visionary aviation engineer Barnes Wallis' concept of the bouncing bomb was green lighted, he hadn't even drawn up his plans for the weapon that was to smash the dams. What followed was an incredible race against time, which, despite numerous set-backs and against huge odds, became one of the most successful and game-changing bombing raids of all time.

©2012 James Holland (P)2012 Random House AudioGo
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Dam Busters

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting stuff - just superb

I had the extreme pleasure of hearing James Holland's talk about this book at the Borders Book Festival earlier in 2012. If knowledge, passion and enthusiasm was a sport, James would be on the top step of the podium. A fascinating yet brief introduction into a truly heroic effort to smash the dams.

This audio book was the next obvious step and I'm delighted to say it carries the same passion as the brief hour at the Book Festival.

A fascinating story of magnificent triumph over overwhelming adversity that changed the face of WWII. I had an inkling that these men were made of something 'a bit special', but I had no idea just how much the odds were stacked against this mission.

James Holland brings the fascinating story to life in this book. So much so, on more than one occasion, I found myself sitting in the car park at work transfixed when I really should have been in the office getting on with some work!!

Just brilliant.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive and Entralling

A comprehensive telling of the development of the bouncing bombs, the dam raid and its effects, and the consequent history of 617 squadron.
Some points of interest.

The speed by which something so complex as the Dams raid was pulled off in the midst of total war. Less than two months from green light to mission.
That Barnes Wallis was not alone in being a proponent of such a weapon. Indeed, the admiralty were champions of the weapons throughout most of the development.
The focus on the strategic impact of the raid on German war production. Yes the dams were rebuilt quickly, but that was tests,net to the importance of the dams to German war production. During the period the dams were out of action, the Battle of Kursk ended in. German defeat, partly because of lack of tank and gun production at a critical stage of preparation.
The subsequent wartime history of 617 squadron is mentioned, but almost in passing. This doesn't do justice to the complex use of this squadron in the Tallboy and Grand Slam missions against key targets.

Ultimately, it's the dams mission that continues to capture the imagination, even today, over 70 years after the raid.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Beyond the film....

This book proved fascinating. I had read much around the subject before, but his detailed explanation of both background and characters involved really brought this to life, as no pure factual account could.



He also really got over his enthusiasm for the subject!



Recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A masterpiece of historical research

Would you consider the audio edition of Dam Busters to be better than the print version?

Difficult question as I enjoy reading as much as I enjoy listening. On the whole this is an excellent book and I would have enjoyed it in either medium.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dam Busters?

Without a doubt towards the end the revelation that the impact of the dams raid was far greater than has hitherto been expressed. I doubt very much if the effect of the raid had on the German economy was anticipated by the allies at the time of the raid. The biggest single effect was undoubtedly the fact that so many workers were transferred from building the Atlantic wall, and had not been returned to finish it by the time the invasion took place. Had the raid not taken place the result of the invasion against completed defences would probably have not succeeded nearly as well as it did.
Also the fact that the deluge destroyed so many coal mines that factories all over Germany were severely affected to the extent that production and supply of tanks to the German army was severely limited and this may well have affected the results at the Battle of Kirsk.

Which character – as performed by James Holland – was your favourite?

Barnes Wallis

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The single most important event to shorten the war

Any additional comments?

I would like to see a remake of the classic film The Dam Busters using the knowledge gleaned for the production of James Holland's excellent book

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Great story, let down by narration

This is obviously an amazing wartime event and the book itself is very well researched and written by James Holland, who clearly understand his subject. It is, however, rather let down by the narration. Great author that he is, James doesn't do so well in narrating the story. Audio books should be easy to listen to but I frequently found myself annoyed by how fast it was being read and how the narrator was "snatching" his words at times. This expertly written book would have received a 5 star review if it had been read by someone with more skill at narration.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

More Exciting than a Film

Like many people, I know about the raid on the dams in the Ruhr Valley during WW2. I've read various short articles and watched the 1955 film. If you are British then the Dambusters is part of one's collective historical DNA.

But do you really know the story? Really? Until now, I thought I knew it but having listened to this book (I also have the hardback version) I realise that I was not even close.

Firstly, the book is well narrated by James Holland himself whom at first is perhaps not as good as a 'professional,' but, after a few chapters gets well into his stride. He even gets various accents correct. The pacing and tone is well balanced and adds just the right amount of gravitas to this astonishing story.

Anyway, getting back to the story. And what a story. If someone was to write this as a fictional thing you would probably dismiss this as impossible nonsense. Sir Barnes Wallis comes up with a bonkers plan to knock out dams using a bouncing bomb - something that had never even been considered before - and manages to get enough people interested so as to gather together a squadron of people, develop a brand new bomb, train for something that's never been done before and do it in a few months.

It is frankly an astonishing thing that was achieved. Most of the story is the run up to the actual attack and delves into the politics, the people and the infighting to get this done. I did not know for instance that it was the Royal Navy that actually pushed the bouncing bomb against the staunch resistance from Arthur 'Bomber' Harris who was dead set against it.

Holland seems to also have a talent for bringing out the human aspect of his stories and he most certainly does here. He breaths life and colour into the men who trained, fought and serviced the aircraft. We meet up with their wives and girlfriends and at the end we get a short history of what happened after the raid and after WW2.

Of course the focus is the raid itself. And here is where Holland has utterly nailed it. Because he took his time building up to the raid, laying all the groundwork, by time you get to the starting of the engines you really do start to get emotional. Honestly, I had tears in my eyes at this point. The courage, the skill and the sheer dogged determination of men from the UK, Australia and New Zealand who took to the air heading out across the Channel to fly into the centre of a very well defended Germany is frankly, lump in the throat stuff. And its not just the actual attack on the dam. Getting there is a massive feat itself. These men flew at literally tree top level in a huge bomber all the way across Holland and Germany. They flew under power pylon's. They hit the sea with their aircraft. Two planes perished with all on board hitting power lines.

This is one of the greatest military adventures of all time, if not the greatest.

And at the end what I did like is that James Holland did not belittle the attack like many modern historians have done. He went into great detail as to just how much disruption to Germany the dams caused not least the herculean efforts the Nazis made to repair them which diverted massive amounts of material and people away from other war endeavours and which impacted things as far afield as their ability to fight in Russia and build the Atlantic Wall.

This is a book which is as good as it gets when telling the tale of the Dambusters. And it still cannot convey the majesty of it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent book

Having seen the film on release and a number of times since I grew up with this daring raid, and to have a book that goes in to such detail about the rest of the crews, their lives sadly most of them short, really brought home to me in later life the true cost, of this life long interest. Having even stood in the middle of the two towers of the dam, looked up the valley and wondered how did they do it.



This well constructed book to me was well worth it, to add to my understanding.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

I eventually listened to this book every evening to fall asleep...great for that purpose but the narrative is quite monotone and boring. Too bad as it is a great story

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

Really great story well-written, but I was driven mad by the author narrating it, as he has a tendency to say 'wiv' instead of with and many other 'th's end up as either v or ff. I listened, gripped even through my gritted teeth, as the story was so good. I'm sure he's a great historian, but Mr Holland is not my favourite reader.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

fascinating insight into the raid on the dams

Guy Gibson comes across as a very complicated figure extremely brave and courageous as was all of those mrn who flew those Lancasters into enemy Germany

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