About the Author

Juliet Gardiner is a respected commentator on British social history from the Victorian times through to the 1950s. She was editor of ‘History Today’ magazine and is also author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling ‘Wartime’. Her monumental ‘The Thirties: An Intimate History’ is published by Harper Press in February 2010.

Reviews

'Enthralling…Gardiner has ranged deep and wide in the archives…her book gives us a balances picture of Britain, nationwide, throughout those wearying months. Page after page of her intensely humane prose bring tears, anger, horror, disgust and utter admiration in equal measure…an absorbing and truly impressive account of Hitler's second strategic defeat.' The Times 'Throughout the book, Gardiner makes highly effective use of the words of those who lived through the Blitz…the material [she] marshals so well underlines the stubborn powers of endurance and the genuine sense of community that the Blitz did indeed engender.It was one of the defining moments in modern British history and it wasn't only our cityscapes that were reconfigured by the German bombing. Gardiner shows how it changed people as well.' Sunday Times ‘Thoughtful and considered…Through numerous first-hand accounts [Gardiner] shines the spotlight on the day-to-day realities of living under attack…It is surprising how much fascinating new material this book unearths. It is a treasure trove of vivid, detailed anecdotes, revealing many hitherto overlooked aspects of life in wartime Britain.’ Guardian