There are many books about the Lancaster, Halifax, Stirling and Wellington bombers, as well as multiple biographies and autobiographies written by their crew members. Less common are authoritative books about the earlier aircraft which, while less successful, paved the way for the later 'heavies', which were instrumental in winning the strategic bombing campaign against Germany in Occupied Europe. One such largely overlooked machine was the Avro Manchester, the direct forerunner of the mighty Lancaster. Over an 18-month period 202 Manchesters using 538 Vulture engines managed just 1,264 operational sorties ranging widely in nature. The rationale justifying the attention given here to a 'minor type' is the unbroken development link between the Manchester and its successors. This is the only account that deals adequately with the initial challenges in trying to use this 'engine test bed' simultaneously as an operational bomber. It makes clear why it was militarily a wise decision to
