Emeritus Prof Christopher May6d 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 6d 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 threadEmeritus Prof Christopher May5d ago

@greenpete

Yes, he joined fare being a pacifist (after reading Lewis Mumford's Why Men Must Act - central message: for good to triumph all that is required is for good men to do nothing), and then flew for the latter part of the way on the massive 'area' raids.... which after the war, he was pretty sure would have been prosecuted as war crimes had the allies lost. But he thought WW2 overall was a just cause.

Show threadGreenpete 
@ChrisMayLA6 Thanks!
Mar 17 at 10:46pmWeb