''Damned Good Show'' is a 2002 novel by Derek Robinson, concerning the actions of Bomber Command of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in the first two years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It is the third book of Robinson's "RAF Quartet", which began with ''

Piece of Cake Piece of Cake or A Piece of Cake may refer to: Literature * ''Piece of Cake'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Derek Robinson *"A Piece of Cake", a 1942 short story by Roald Dahl *'' A Piece of Cake: A Memoir'', an autobiography by Cupcake Brown Music * ...

'' in 1983 and continued with ''

A Good Clean Fight ''A Good Clean Fight'' is a 1993 novel by Derek Robinson, and a sequel to '' Piece of Cake'' (1983), his famous and controversial novel of the Battle of Britain. It continues the story of RAF Hornet Squadron, now posted to North Africa in 19 ...

'' in 1993. Skull Skelton, a character in those earlier novels, is one of the protagonists of ''Damned Good Show.'' Like all of Robinson's novels, ''Damned Good Show'' points out the inadequacies of the pre-war establishment and the many hurdles that Bomber Command had to overcome during the course of the war, such as inadequate aircraft—in this case the Handley Page Hampden, and the inaccuracy of the night-time bombing raids on Germany.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

in their review said "readers be warned: appealing characters get shot down and die. It's war, and Robinson never lets you forget it. Brilliant truths about smart lads in the days before smart bombs." A reviewer for

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

compared it to

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-chr ...

by Joseph Heller saying "this is terrific, rigorous stuff, full of telling research and sharp insight. It is also mordantly funny and, in its way, as loud an anti-battle cry as Catch-22."

Notes

2002 British novels Aviation novels Novels set during World War II Cassell (publisher) books {{2000s-WWII-novel-stub