num_pages: 144
description: On 17th May 1943, 617 squadron Lancaster bombers successfully breached the Mohne and Eder dams in Germany's Ruhr region, in a raid using a technologically remarkable bouncing bomb thought up by scientist and inventor Barnes Wallis. 617 squadron was re-named 'the dam busters' and these events were hailed as a triumph for British heroism, ingenuity and scientific know-how. The film 'The Dam Busters' was released in 1955, when war films were popular. Both critics and audience applauded and it made more at the box office than any other film of its year. With neither glamour nor stars to recommend it, this was a remarkable achievement. Director Michael Anderson succeeded in making a film of higher quality and deeper meaning than other war films of its time. It celebrated the gutsy ingenuity of the 'Brits at War', a sense of pride, John Ramsden argues, that has remained in British popular memory.John Ramsden's lively and incisive book investigates the background, context and making of 'The Dam Busters'; it gives full attention to the film itself and reviews critical and popular reception. It proposes that the value of Britain's bombing campaign is now difficult to assess partly because it is influenced by the cultural impact of this film and asks how accurate a portrayal the film provides, though accuracy was both aimed at and claimed for the finished film.A fascinating mix of film analysis and political history, this guide to a British institution and perhaps the finest example of a classic war film will appeal to film and twentieth century history enthusiasts alike.
language: English
title: The Dam Busters
titlecomplete: The Dam Busters
genres: Film
ratings_count: 7
publisher: I.B. Tauris