Operation Bowler

Author: Jonathan Glancey

Italy | c 1918 to c 1939 (Inter-war period) | c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2) | Renaissance art | History of art & design styles: from c 1900 - | Art & design styles: c 1900 to c 1960 | History of architecture | 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 | Second World War | War & defence operations

Published on 6^th March 2025 by Oneworld Publications in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 336 pages
162mm x 244mm x 35mm | 536g

21st March 1945. 1530 hours. 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; immortalised 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, gruelling 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 a gripping tale, bestselling author Jonathan Glancey reveals the thrilling history of ‘Operation Bowler’. Joining audacious Wing Commander George Westlake DFC and his elite team, Operation Bowler explores how an unlikely squad of pilots executed one of the most meticulous and complex air raids of the Second World War, sparing not only Venice, but its people.