London at War, 1939-1945

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A classic book of popular history that has become the standard account of the subject – a vivid picture of a people under siege. London in 1939 was not only the greatest city in the world, it was the most tempting and vulnerable target for aerial attack. For six years it was the frontline of the free world’s battle against Fascism. This is the story of London at war - or, perhaps, of Londoners at war, for Philip Ziegler, known best as a biographer, is above all fascinated by the people who found their lives so suddenly and violently transformed: the querulous, yet strangely gallant housewife from West Hampstead; the left-wing retired schoolmaster from Walthamstow; the snobbish middle-class lady from Kensington, sneering at the scum who took shelter in the Underground; the typist from Fulham, the plumber from Woolwich. It was their war as much as it was Churchill’s or the King’s, and this is their history. There were some cowards, criminals and incompetents, but what emerges from these pages is above all a record of astonishing patience, dignity and courage.