The Longest Night: Voices from the London Blitz

The Longest Night: Voices from the London Blitz

by Gavin Mortimer (Author)

Synopsis

The bloodiest night of the London Blitz The Blitz is one of the best known events of the Second World War. It affected more British people than any other 'battle': soldier or civilian, man or woman, adult or child -- the bombs made no distinction. Over 40,000 people were killed in the German air raids and many more injured. The scars on London took 50 years to repair and even now there are sealed up air raid shelters where the bodies remain entombed. London's firemen and emergency services did their jobs under a rain of bombs night after night, for eight months. Whole crews sometimes died as buildings collapsed on them: some of these heroes are commemorated today by having streets in the East End named after them. Gavin Mortimer concentrates on one night: the particularly savage raids of 10-11 May 1941 to reveal what it was like to experience The Blitz. Based on interviews with survivors, his gripping minute-by-minute account recaptures a time when the very survival of this country hung in the balance.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Edition: New Ed
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 06 Apr 2006

ISBN 10: 0753820684
ISBN 13: 9780753820681
Book Overview: The bloodiest night of the London Blitz

Media Reviews
Mortimer deserves full credit for assembling a mountain of material and presenting it with lucidity and balance -- Philip Ziegler * Daily Mail *
An excellent book . . . Gavin Mortimer has interviewed scores of survivors for his gripping narrative -- Andrew Roberts * Scotland on Sunday *
The careful scene-setting painlessly imparts forgotten information about the facets of wartime life . . . Gavin Mortimer's book is a timely reminder that there are still many living survivors who remember and were scarred by the terrifying experience * Literary Review *
Mortimer has achieved a complex task with great aplomb. The story of the Second World War always needs new ways of being told . . . daring and effective -- Simon Garfield * Mail on Sunday *
This is first and foremost the story of the ordinary people and how their spirits proved more impressive than the famous places and statistics * The Armourer *
The whole day is recounted with heart-stopping pace * Scottish Legion News *
Author Bio
Gavin Mortimer was born in London. As a freelance journalist he has contributed articles to a diverse range of magazines and newspapers, including the Observer, the Guardian, History Monthly and Esquire. The Longest Night is his fourth book and the second to be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The first, Stirling's Men: the Inside History of the SAS in World War II, was published in 2004 and is now available in paperback.