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The battle of London 1939-45

£12.99

Britain and Germany were at war for almost six long years. For prolonged periods of time – from September 1940 to May 1941, and again from December 1943 to March 1945 – London was under sustained, sometimes unrelenting, aerial bombardment by night and by day. Throughout the war, London was the nation’s front line, and the capital and its people bore the brunt of the nation’s suffering. Yet if the bombing defined the era for those who lived through it, the months of terror were outnumbered by those spent knitting together the skein of daily life at work, in the home, on the allotment, in the cinema or theatre and, not least, standing in those interminable queues for daily necessities that were such a feature of London’s war. Jerry White has unearthed what actually happened during those years, getting close up to the daily lives of ordinary people, telling the story through their own voices.

In stock

Description

‘Endlessly fascinating. . . White is such a brilliant historian’ Mail on Sunday

Lasting for six long years, the Blitz transformed life in the capital beyond recognition, marking a time of almost constant anxiety, disruption, deprivation and sacrifice for Londoners. With the capital the nation’s frontline during the Second World War, by its end, 30,000 inhabitants had lost their lives.

While much has been written about ‘the Myth of the Blitz’, its riveting social history has often been overlooked. Unearthing what it was actually like for those living through those tempestuous years, Jerry White paints a fascinating portrait of the daily lives of ordinary Londoners, telling the story through their own voices.

‘As a history of the capital in wartime, it is probably unsurpassable’ Sunday Telegraph

‘An impressive history of the capital at war. . . White, an accomplished chronicler of London’s history, tells it with brio and a confident mastery of the sources’ Literary Review

Read a sample here

Additional information

Weight 0.38 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 13 × 3.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

400

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

942.1084 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K