Operation Bowler

The Audacious Allied Bombing of Venice during World War II

Jonathan Glancey

A story of incredible military daring—set against the splendor of Venice—that tells how an unlikely squad of pilots executed the most meticulous air raid of World War II.

March 21st, 1945. Bursting through a hazy sky, dozens of Allied fighters and bombers sweep over German-occupied Venice.

Their mission: destroy Germany’s strategic outposts nestled along the port, while leaving the floating city unscathed.

As bombs rained down upon Europe, flattening city after city, Venice—La Serenissima; home of Titian and Veronese; immortalized in the serene landscapes of Canaletto—remained sacrosanct. Its artistic and architectural treasure too considerable, too precious to risk destruction.

But as the push up through Italy reached its final, grueling months, the Allies were confronted with a terrible dilemma. The ancient city of Venice was now closer and closer to the line of fire. As casualties mounted, the value of art—of history—seemed diminished; just a month earlier Allied bombers had reduced the ancient hilltop abbey of Monte Cassino to a stony husk.

In this vivid narrative, bestselling author Jonathan Glancey reveals the thrilling story of Operation Bowler. Following the exploits of audacious Wing Commander George Westlake and his elite team, Operation Bowler explores how an unlikely squad of pilots executed the most meticulous and complex air raid of World War II, sparing not only Venice but also its people.

Jonathan Glancey is a journalist, author, and broadcaster working in Britain. He has been the Architecture/Design correspondent for the Guardian and the Architecture/Design editor of the Independent in London. An honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, he is a member of the Committee of International Architectural Critics. He writes for the Daily Telegraph among other publications and is the author of Spitfire: The Biography; Concorde: The Rise and Fall of the Supersonic Airliner; and The Story of Architecture. Operation Bowler is his first book published in America.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for Jonathan Glancey’s Concorde:

"A thoughtful hymn to a great symbol of the analogue age. Concorde will be the standard long read on the subject for years.” The Times (London)

"What Jonathan Glancey likes about Concorde could probably fill several books. His history of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner is nevertheless engaging, tracing the arc of Concorde's rise in the 1970s, an unlikely triumph of engineering and international co-operation, through to its decommissioning.” The Financial Times

"Jonathan Glancey is eminently qualified to write a history of Concorde. He fully appreciates the aesthetics and science of aeronautical engineering, and the lucidity of his prose makes his complex subject clearly comprehensible.” The Spectator

"How welcome it is to see a specialist book from someone who can write. What might appear to be yet another book on this widely exposed aircraft is actually one very much worth reading." Pilot

"Glancey skillfully tells the tale of a plane forged from a great trans-national alliance, and how it eventually fell from sky, taking with it—perhaps temporarily—the dream of a world shrunk small by the sheer force of technology." Wallpaper