The Blitz: The British Under Attack

Excellent book very well written and a very easy read, highly recommended

Anyone who is familiar with Juliet Gardiner's books `Wartime Britain 1939-1945' and `The Thirties - An Intimate History' will know exactly what to expect from this book, and they will not be disappointed. Again the reader is presented with a well-researched and thorough work, making good use of the first-hand accounts of those who lived through the events covered. It seems insensitive to say that they were the lucky ones but, of course, so many also died. It is a stark fact, given near the end of the book after various accounts are given by survivors of the raids, that not until the autumn of 1942 had the enemy killed more British soldiers than civilians. This statistic, quoted by Ms Gardiner, is just one example of many I could pick to show how this book manages to bring home to the reader, simply and effectively, the true horror that was the Blitz. There are other books available on the subject, indeed you can read about the blitz in many general books about the Second World War, but I doubt whether a more readably detailed volume has been published about it. Ms Gardiner examines the blitz not just from the angle of how it was experienced in London, but also by giving equal attention to the awful destruction it brought to towns and cities across the country. By so doing she avoids the accusation, thrown at the Ministry Of Information by many residents of these other municipalities at the time, that London was somehow regarded as more important than them in the news releases issued about the raids. The official reasoning was that to give out precise details of location and damage done in other cities would be to assist the enemy in their planning for future raids. Thus, for example, after a devastating raid on Hull, the national press simply reported a raid on `a north-east town' or a `northern coastal town'. Understandably such reporting caused resentment. We not only hear of the horror experienced in places as diverse as Coventry; Liverpool; Bristol; Birmingham; Plymouth; Clydebank and Belfast, as well as London, (and I apologise now to the places I have missed out); we also hear from the ARP workers and those individuals in the Heavy Rescue Squads who, whilst the fire services were often fighting against the odds to bring many a conflagration under control, were dealing face to face with the awful consequences of such indiscriminate and sustained destruction. Some of the accounts are harrowing. Indeed, the bravery and determination of these rescue workers and firefighters, (many of whom became casualty statistics themselves), shines out, on occasion casting a stark light on the ineffective organisation put together by some local civil defence authorities for dealing with the situation. The unsatisfactory condition of a good number of the public air raid shelters is revealed. In terms of sanitation and structural soundness many were severely wanting. The government's initial reluctance to condone the use of the London Underground for shelter from the raids is also mentioned, as well as the varying experiences of those who sheltered in their own Anderson or Morrison shelters. These and other subjects that affected people's experiences and attitudes during the blitz - people incidentally from both ends of the social scale - are comprehensively reported in a book that can only raise admiration in the reader for the poor souls that lived through it, determined not to be beaten, and also for an author who has so informatively written about it.

factual, but nice easy read

Until I read this book I used to think I knew a fair amount about the Blitz, - I was wrong. My knowledge was limited to what I had learnt from the "Battle of Britain " film and rumours that abound about the "Blitz Spirit" and sheltering in London's Tube stations. I had never heard of Mass Observation, a real war-time 'Big Brother' that made regular reports on citizens morale and were not averse to criticising some of the dafter procedures that were in place in the early days. Low gas pressure for cooking, low or no water pressure, - these are things that never surfaced before on my radar. I had no idea that RAF bombs out-killed (murdered?) civilians by a factor of over 14.5:1 and neither had I any idea of the number of homes destroyed and badly damaged. Who would have thought that the WVS would grow to be a million plus strong by the end of the war, having started out as a few names in one lady's address book? I could go on, but I hope you get the idea! The title I have chosen for this review is taken from the end of a quote by a Red Cross Nurse who had the job of trying to reassemble body parts after they had been exposed to High Explosive bombs of 50kg and upwards. Many times I felt myself experiencing what was written in front of me. I could taste the brick dust, smell the smoke and feel the fear of the countless heroes who exposed themselves to any and every sort of danger. I think it is humbling to discover what a large proportion of our urban populations (and not just London) had to endure - there were many, many unsung heroes amongst them. A thoroughly well-researched book that contains several harrowing tales and pulls no punches. In her acknowledgements towards the end of the book, Dr. Gardiner states that the book could not have been written without a lot of help. It is my contention that without her, we would never have had this opportunity to learn about this dreadfully grim period in our country's history. This is definitely a book I shall keep so that I can read and re-read over the years.

Great fan of this lady and have all her books on WWII. Sadly when reading this I felt I have read it all before in her other previous publications. I suppose after a while you can only write so much about the same subject. Felt like it was just covering old ground. If you have never read any thing by this lady before then this shall be a good read.

I am not sure that 'I love it' is really appropriate for such a book. This is a pretty thorough study of the effects of the German air raids on British towns and cities during 'the People's War', and because Juliet Gardiner writes for 'the people' it is very easy to read and digest. Having said that, it is also pretty indigestible because of the terrible stories of destruction, loss and appalling conditions faced by the British people on the Home Front. Although I was born after the war, I found my self almost weeping for the loss of a London (my home city) I never knew. The descriptions of the air raids on Belfast and Plymouth were particularly heart-rending; how people stood it I really can't begin to comprehend. This is a brilliant book to read if you are at all interested in the last war; and perhaps it ought to be read by those who are not just so that we, as a post-war generation, have some understanding of what our parents and grandparents endured.

This is an exhaustive description of the UK blitz in 1940/41. The author has put together all the best of Ziegler combined with Imperial War museum and Public record office transcripts to produce the most enlightening and passionate survey of this period yet. The focus on the mundane as well as the bravery of the AFS ARP and other fire services is simply breathtaking. It is also a thumping good read. Human, humane and unafraid to confront official incompetence, this is incendiary stuff. Bravo.

As a narrative history of the experience of the German bombing campaign against Britain, especially in the later part of 1940, this can't be bettered. Gardiner excels at using eye-witnesses to bring alive the horrors of aerial bombardment, and she takes us outside London to remind us how badly Coventry, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Belfast and other cities were hit by the Luftwaffe.