Pathfinders: Imperial War Museum Wartime Classics

Cecil Lewis

Jun 2021 · Headline · Narrated by John Telfer

About this audiobook

A new edition of Cecil Lewis's 1944 aviation classic.

'A highly unusual war novel with several confluent narratives; moving, interesting and of great literary value.'
LOUIS de BERNIÈRES

Over the course of one night in 1942, the crew members of Wellington bomber 'P for Pathfinder' each reflect on the paths of their own lives, as they embark on a fateful mission deep into the heart of Nazi Germany.

Cecil Lewis' novel examines the life of every man in turn, rendering a moving account of each as not merely a nameless crew member, but as an individual with a life lived, 'a life precious to some, or one... these men with dreams and hopes and plans of things to come'.

This new edition of the 1944 classic includes a new introduction from an Imperial War Museums historian that puts the novel in historical context and shines a light on this vital and sometimes contested aspect of Britain's involvement in World War II.

'It's wonderful to see these books given a new lease of life [...] classic novels from the Second World War written by those who were there, experienced the fear, anguish, pain and excitement first-hand and whose writings really do shine an incredibly vivid light onto what it was like to live and fight through that terrible conflict.'
JAMES HOLLAND, Historian, author and TV presenter

(P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Limited

About the author

CECIL LEWIS (1898 - 1997) was a British fighter ace in the First World War and spent time as a flying instructor for the RAF (Royal Air Force) during the Second World War, as well as in active service in that conflict. One of the founding executives of the BBC, he enjoyed friendships with many of the creative figures of the day including George Bernard Shaw, winning an Academy Award for the 1938 film adaptation of Shaw's Pygmalion. Lewis was a prolific writer and his autobiographical account Sagittarius Rising became a classic of First World War literature considered by many as the definitive work on aerial combat. He retained a passion for adventure throughout his life and was the last surviving British fighter ace of the First World War.