Emeritus Prof Christopher May5d ago

RIP Len Deighton.

Deighton's working class spys in books such as the Ipcress File & Funeral in Berlin were a major shift in the literature of espionage...but for me, his best work was Bomber.

And the reason: my father pilot & Squadron Leader in Bomber Command during WW2, thought it was the best depiction of what he had gone through, he ever read & this from a man who refused for the most part to discuss his role in what he had subsequently concluded was a war crime.

#RIPLenDeighton

Show threadGreenpete 5d ago
@ChrisMayLA6 Just to clarify... your Dad considered WW2 to be a crime?
I've often thought all wars are crimes, as to start one is often extremely questionable.
Show threadCharlie Stross5d ago
@greenpete @ChrisMayLA6 A lot of RAF people later considered the strategic booming campaign against German civilians to be a war crime, yes. "Bomber" Harris was the only really senior British commander not to end up in the House of Lords. He *specifically* targeted residential neighbourhoods with fire combing. Cf. Hamburg, Dresden.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May

@cstross @greenpete

Yes, it cast a very dark shadow over the rest of his life (my father that is)

Mar 17 at 10:19pmWeb