On the evening of 16 May 1943, nineteen Avro Lancasters took off from RAF Scampton to undertake 617 Squadron's first offensive attack since its formation a few weeks earlier. Loaded with Barnes Wallis' newly designed bouncing bombs, the Bomber Command crews set course for their targets - the vital Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams that served the Ruhr, the Third Reich's industrial heartland. By the time the survivors began landing back at base at 03.11 hours the following morning, eight of the Lancasters had been shot down. However, both the Mohne and Eder dams had been breached, while the Sorpe was damaged. The flood waters that the attacks unleashed poured downstream, wreaking havoc on the surrounding countryside. Albert Speer, Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production, later wrote: That night, employing just a few bombers, the British came close to a success which would have been greater than anything they had achieved hitherto with a commitment of thousands of bombers. In 1990, the renowned historian and author Dr John Sweetman published his seminal work on the events before, during and after Operation Chastise. His book was the result of decades of research into the famous attack, in the course of which Dr Sweetman corresponded with or interviewed many of the individuals involved - from the scientists to senior officers, and from groundcrew to the very airmen who delivered Barnes Wallis' bouncing bombs to the dams. Such was the relationships that developed over the years, Dr Sweetman became a close friend to many of these individuals and their families. Some of the information contained in the interview transcripts and letters he received was included in his original book; much more, however, was never used. This is particularly the case with the many letters and conversations which Dr Sweetman received or had after his book was first published - much of which adds to, or elaborates on, the narrative of the events in May 1943. Dr Sweetman has delved into his remarkable archive of material to present unseen sections of it here, for the historian or general reader, for the very first time.

The German battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz had brutally short careers. The Bismarck was sunk by the Home Fleet on her first operational sortie in May 1941. But the Tirpitz, hiding in Norwegian fjords, remained a menace to Allied convoys and tied down the British Home Fleet for three years. Periodic scares that the Tirpitz was 'out' disrupted naval operations and in 1942 led to the dispersal and destruction of Convoy PQ17. Many attacks on the Tirpitz were made by British X-craft and Chariots, by the Fleet Air Arm and by RAF Bomber Command. From May 1940 over 700 British aircraft tried to bomb, mine or torpedo the Tirpitz on 33 separate missions; she was finally destroyed by Lancaster bombers with 5-ton Tallboy bombs. This is the most comprehensive account of the air attacks on 'the beast' ever published, which is the result of extensive research of the British and German records by the author, former head of Defence and International Affairs at RMA Sandhurst.

First published in 1999, this book explores how, from the stone bridges of neoclassicism which soar out of wild woods to span pastoral valleys to the post-1750 engineer's bridge with its links to the more industrial landscape, the bridge was a popular feature in painting throughout the period 1700-1920. Why did so many artists choose to portray bridges? In this lavishly illustrated and intriguing book, John Sweetman seeks to answer this question. He traces the history of the bridge in painting and printmaking through a vast range of work, some as familiar as William Etty's The Bridge of Sighs and Claude Monet's The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil and others less well known such as Wassily Kandinsky's Composition IV and C.R.W. Nevinson's Looking Through the Brooklyn Bridge. Distinctive characteristics emerge revealing the complex role of the bridge as both symbol and metaphor, and as a place of vantage, meeting and separation.

First published in 1999, this book explores how, from the stone bridges of neoclassicism which soar out of wild woods to span pastoral valleys to the post-1750 engineer's bridge with its links to the more industrial landscape, the bridge was a popular feature in painting throughout the period 1700-1920. Why did so many artists choose to portray bridges? In this lavishly illustrated and intriguing book, John Sweetman seeks to answer this question. He traces the history of the bridge in painting and printmaking through a vast range of work, some as familiar as William Etty's The Bridge of Sighs and Claude Monet's The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil and others less well known such as Wassily Kandinsky's Composition IV and C.R.W. Nevinson's Looking Through the Brooklyn Bridge. Distinctive characteristics emerge revealing the complex role of the bridge as both symbol and metaphor, and as a place of vantage, meeting and separation.

The bitter war between Russia and Turkey, aided by Britain and France, was the setting for the stuff of legends. This book details the gallant yet suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade. It relates the reports made by the first real war correspondent, William Russell of the London Times - reports which served only to highlight the army's problems - and memorializes the heroic deeds of Florence Nightingale, who struggled to save young men from the most formidable enemy in the Crimean War: not the Russians, but cholera.

The Oriental Obsession begins in the early sixteenth century with Cardinal Wolsey waiting two years for the delivery of sixty rare Turkey carpets from Venice, and ends in the age of the great exhibitions and emporia on both sides of the Atlantic, before and after 1900, when Islamic objects were seen, appreciated, and bought by millions of the public. The book is concerned with a subject which has not been treated before - the history over four centuries of Islamic artistic traditions and European ideas of Islam as they affected the visual arts of the west and particularly the English-speaking peoples. Studies of individual aspects have been made previously, but this is the first time that an attempt has been made to consider the subject as a whole. The geographical purview extends from Moorish Spain in the west to British India in the east and, besides architecture, the activities that are involved include painting, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, furniture and bookcrafts.

In 1917, David Lloyd George declared that airmen were 'the cavalry of the clouds - the knighthood of this war.' This romantic image was fostered post-war by writers of adventure stories and the stunts of Hollywood filmmakers, and yet it was far from the harsh reality of the life of an airman. From their baptism of fire in 1914 carrying out reconnaissance and experiencing the first dogfights, to the breakthrough in 1918 which claimed heavy casualties, the aerial defenders of Britain were continually tested. In Cavalry of the Clouds John Sweetman describes the development of British air power during the First World War on the Western Front, which culminated in the creation of the first independent air force, the RAF. By making use of the correspondence of airmen and ground staff of all nationalities, he illustrates the impact this new type of conflict had on those involved and their families at home. Extensively researched and handsomely illustrated with contemporary photographs, Cavalry of the Clouds is an essential reference work for any student of military history.

During the Second World War aeronautical technology gathered rapid pace. By 1945, bombers had not only greatly increased in engine power and range, but the bombs which they carried rose from 250lbs to 10 tons; the navigator's pencil and rubber of 1939 had been supplemented by infinitely more sophisticated electronic aids. Yet the success or failure of each and every bomber still depended entirely on the efficiency of every member of the crew at his individual position, the interaction and co-operation of all crew members as a body. One member of 617 squadron graphically explained that 'every time we went out, it was seven men against the Reich'.;Drawing on letters, journals and diaries, John Sweetman examines the lives the bomber crews lived, from the highs and lows of their missions to the complexities of their friendships and the impact their place in the war had on the families and loved ones they left behind. Part collective biography, part military history, part social history: this will remain the definitive account of the bomber crews of the Second World War for years to come.

A comprehensive account of the most audacious bombing raid of the Second World War. Operation Chastise - the Dambusters Raid, as it became known - undertaken by 19 Lancasters of 617 Squadron on the night of 16 May 1943, was the most audacious bombing raid of the Second World War. For the loss of 11 aircraft, the Mohne and Eder dams in Germany's industrial heartland were breached, and a famous if controversial victory won. John Sweetman's book is the most comprehensive account of this legendary mission, from the development of Barnes Wallis' 'bouncing bomb' (in reality a revolving depth-charge) to every moment of the raid itself, under the charismatic command of Guy Gibson, VC. It recalls a time of commitment, perseverance and sheer dogged determination in the face of dangerous and improbable odds.