Dam Buster cover art

Dam Buster

Barnes Wallis: An Engineer’s Life

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Dam Buster

By: Richard Morris
Narrated by: Chris Courtenay
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

'A stunningly good and surely definitive biography of one of the most fascinating British engineers ever to have lived' JAMES HOLLAND

Barnes Wallis is remembered for contributions to aviation that spanned most of the 20th century, from airships at its start to reusable spacecraft near the end. In the years between he pioneered new kinds of aircraft structure, bombs to alter the way in which wars are fought, and aeroplanes that could change shape in flight. Later work extended to radio telescopy, prosthetic limbs, and plans for a fleet of high-speed cargo submarines to travel the world's oceans in silence.

For all his fame, little is known about the man himself. Dam Buster draws on family records to reveal someone thick with contradictions: a Victorian who in his imagination ranged far into the 21st century; a romantic for whom nostalgic pastoral and advanced technology went together; an unassuming man who kept a close eye on his legacy. Wallis was last in a line of engineers who combined hands-on experience with searching vision. Richard Morris sets out to locate him in Britain's grand narrative.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Richard Morris (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group Limited
Great Britain Historical Military War Aviation Transportation Submarine Air Force
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Cinderella Boys cover art
Beyond the Sea cover art
Winkle cover art
Eject! Eject! cover art
Concorde cover art
From the Ground Up cover art
Dünkirchen 1940 cover art
Barry Cryer: Same Time Tomorrow? cover art
One of Our Submarines cover art
Cold War Boys cover art
How the War Was Won cover art
To Besiege a City cover art
The Padre cover art
In the Shadow of the Moon cover art
Anthony Fokker cover art
Geniuses at War cover art

Critic reviews

A comprehensive, deeply researched and insightful portrait of Wallis, one of Britain's greatest engineers (Saul David)
Fascinating . . . Wallis was in the unenviable position of being one of Britain's most talented engineers who was nevertheless under-appreciated in his lifetime . . . [Morris] does a sterling job of re-establishing his reputation as an innovator in countless fields, in highly readable fashion (Alexander Larman)
Richard Morris's biography is the best and most detailed to date of the celebrated engineer Barnes Wallis (Waqar Zaidi)
A superb book ... beautifully written ... for an account of a major name in British aviation history this is, I would suggest, as good as it can get. It is a superb read and I highly recommend it to anybody interested in aviation (Tony Buttler, AMRAeS)

What listeners say about Dam Buster

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful Man.

I will leave the books own "afterward" to sum up this mans wonderful contribution to aviation. Certainly a book to listen too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a life indeed.

This audio book covers so much more than the bouncing bomb. Really interesting stuff. You get a real insight to his life, his achievements and the people around him.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Legend!

Very factual and no nonsense biography of a great man. Details Wallis Life @ 360 degrees.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!