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First Blitz
'Fighting was raging on the other side of the Channel, but in London, in the warmth of a drowsy late-September afternoon, the war seemed a long way away. The roads were strangely quiet and deserted, for petrol restrictions had reduced motor traffic almost to zero. London seemed breathless, in the tense expectancy of disaster.
The alarm was given soon after nightfall. At Biggin Hill and a score of other airfields, pilots scrambled from their quarters and sprinted for their aircraft. Within seconds the air was full of the noise of engines, as the squadrons taxied out and took off into the ever-darkening sky'.
The First Blitz is told in two parts, each detailing the events of a single week. The first part tells the story of the first London Blitz - six raids by German bombers in eight nights in 1917. Part two focuses on the events of August 1918 and the countdown to the incendiary raids that would have destroyed much of London and Paris had they not been called off at the very last minute.
The alarm was given soon after nightfall. At Biggin Hill and a score of other airfields, pilots scrambled from their quarters and sprinted for their aircraft. Within seconds the air was full of the noise of engines, as the squadrons taxied out and took off into the ever-darkening sky'.
The First Blitz is told in two parts, each detailing the events of a single week. The first part tells the story of the first London Blitz - six raids by German bombers in eight nights in 1917. Part two focuses on the events of August 1918 and the countdown to the incendiary raids that would have destroyed much of London and Paris had they not been called off at the very last minute.
436 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2008
48 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Neil Hanson
65 books36 followersIt's been a long and winding road... since graduating with a degree in philosophy (now that's useful...) I've been by turns plasterer's mate, holiday camp redcoat, ice cream salesman, exhibition organiser, art critic, rugby league commentator, freelance journalist, editor of the Good Beer Guide, owner of the highest pub in Great Britain and - finally! - a full-time author. It may not be an ideal career path, but it's given me a wealth of experiences that I draw on constantly in my own work.
I'm the author of over 50 published books. Under my own name I usually write narrative non-fiction a.k.a. popular history (though my sales figures suggest that it's never quite as popular as I'd like it to be...), but I have also written a serious novel, a few thrillers, two screenplays, travel writing and even a play-script for a musical as well. And in my day job as a professional "ghostwriter" I've written over forty other books, including a New York Times Number One best-seller.
I've spoken about my work at lectures, writers' festivals and other events all over the world and, when not writing, I'm often to be found riding my bike in the country around my home on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.
I'm the author of over 50 published books. Under my own name I usually write narrative non-fiction a.k.a. popular history (though my sales figures suggest that it's never quite as popular as I'd like it to be...), but I have also written a serious novel, a few thrillers, two screenplays, travel writing and even a play-script for a musical as well. And in my day job as a professional "ghostwriter" I've written over forty other books, including a New York Times Number One best-seller.
I've spoken about my work at lectures, writers' festivals and other events all over the world and, when not writing, I'm often to be found riding my bike in the country around my home on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 6, 2017
As is the tendency with modern history books the research is exceptional and the author has clearly done his here; one look at the extensive bibliography tells all. As new to this part of the history of war it was a useful chronicle of what must have been a terrifying period for the average London/South East cost resident - hearing the engines from as far away as the other side of the channel must have been very disconcerting. The bravery and dedication on both sides, as is almost always the case, is hard to comprehend; fling at 12,000+ feet without an enclosed cockpit or climbing fully exposed ladders to get to gun positions beggars believe in today's computerised world of drones. If I have a criticism it would be that at times there is clearly periods when the author becomes almost contrived in trying to get in a piece of research on someone who was affected or observed certain things. Making the book a little shorter and avoiding this would have been a positive in my view, however this doesn't take away from this being an interesting and informative read on this dark period in our history.
April 12, 2014
Fair enough and worth reading because it explains why certain decisions were made twenty years later -- why it was thought that mass bombing would succeed in breaking a nation's will to fight and why the bomber would always get through and, importantly, why it was thought that close formations of bombers could support and protect each other from fighters. Now gripe: the author quotes without reference a grossly inflated figure for the number killed in Dresden.
April 1, 2013
While the book covers a little discussed aspect of World War I, the central premise of discussing an event that never took place pushes this into a weird fusion of history and supposition. Basically the 'blitz' of the title never actually took place due to political considerations.
July 7, 2024
History you can understand
I initially picked up this book to get an understanding of the British public during the great war. Having read it, I found so much more. The author doesn't just report numbers of sorties of the attacking Germans, he puts you in the seats of the bomber crews and then in their own words describes what it was like to raid the British.
Then he goes on to describe, again in their own words, what it was like to be on the receiving end of those raids.
He eventually touches on the thinking of those responsible for the prosecution of the Blitz on the innocent woman and children who endured the bombing .
This is a scholarly work backed by an incredible amount of research that reads like a well written mystery.
I initially picked up this book to get an understanding of the British public during the great war. Having read it, I found so much more. The author doesn't just report numbers of sorties of the attacking Germans, he puts you in the seats of the bomber crews and then in their own words describes what it was like to raid the British.
Then he goes on to describe, again in their own words, what it was like to be on the receiving end of those raids.
He eventually touches on the thinking of those responsible for the prosecution of the Blitz on the innocent woman and children who endured the bombing .
This is a scholarly work backed by an incredible amount of research that reads like a well written mystery.
June 22, 2024
A very exhaustive (a little to much detail for my taste) account of the German attempt to destroy London by bombing and fire during the first world war. This was all new to me and I was surprised to learn how many of the tactics, offensive and defensive, used in the Battle of Britain were first used in 1918.
I particularly liked how the author showed events from both the German and Allied sides. On both sides it seems that major stupid mistakes were made by "high-ups" who were ignorant or bigoted or frequently both.
A fascinating book.
I particularly liked how the author showed events from both the German and Allied sides. On both sides it seems that major stupid mistakes were made by "high-ups" who were ignorant or bigoted or frequently both.
A fascinating book.
April 17, 2024
Fascinating and informative
A fascinating and informative history of the early bombing raids on London. Highly researched, detailed and compelling it keeps you reading to the end. It shows how close the plan came to fruition, how much these early raid affected the population and how infighting and poor equipment cause issues for both sides. I highly recommend this book.
A fascinating and informative history of the early bombing raids on London. Highly researched, detailed and compelling it keeps you reading to the end. It shows how close the plan came to fruition, how much these early raid affected the population and how infighting and poor equipment cause issues for both sides. I highly recommend this book.
January 9, 2020
Well researched. A great insight into a little known area of Ww1. Some fascinating detail.
June 16, 2024
It was an interesting book about WWI and the flying on the Germany side.
July 19, 2013
An amazing book about the little known blitz of WWI. From their first tentative strike on Christmas Eve 1914 right up until the final days of the war, German planes flew missions from their occupied territories on the coast of Europe to drop bombs on London and other strategic coastal towns. Or, more exactly, where ever they could find to drop their bombs.
The technology was crude but quickly advancing and the book details how both governments struggled to keep up with the rapid innovations. In Britain, the military was slow to overcome the notion that airplanes were little more than expensive toys and no use in serious warfare, while the Germans—with more reluctance than you would think—overcame their aversion to spreading the terrors of war to innocent women and children.
As the machinery of war—on both sides of the Channel—becomes ever more sophisticated, the terrorizing of the population increases until, eventually, the balance of the war’s continuation and outcome is influenced more and more by the will of the non-uniformed population. The German coup-de-grâce, by which they expect to tip the balance of public option and force Britain to leave the war, is the planned fire-bombing of London. And so the arms race was on; as the British struggled to crush the Germans on the field of battle, the Germans, behind the scenes, were racing to perfect incendiary devices of sufficient strength and number to burn London to the ground.
It is a fascinating look into the workings and development of the both the German and British air forces and the unique problems air warfare presented—along with its unexplored advantages—and how these disparate armies either overcame the hardships or capitalized on the opportunities.
And a lot of things go BOOM! so, really, what’s not to like?
The technology was crude but quickly advancing and the book details how both governments struggled to keep up with the rapid innovations. In Britain, the military was slow to overcome the notion that airplanes were little more than expensive toys and no use in serious warfare, while the Germans—with more reluctance than you would think—overcame their aversion to spreading the terrors of war to innocent women and children.
As the machinery of war—on both sides of the Channel—becomes ever more sophisticated, the terrorizing of the population increases until, eventually, the balance of the war’s continuation and outcome is influenced more and more by the will of the non-uniformed population. The German coup-de-grâce, by which they expect to tip the balance of public option and force Britain to leave the war, is the planned fire-bombing of London. And so the arms race was on; as the British struggled to crush the Germans on the field of battle, the Germans, behind the scenes, were racing to perfect incendiary devices of sufficient strength and number to burn London to the ground.
It is a fascinating look into the workings and development of the both the German and British air forces and the unique problems air warfare presented—along with its unexplored advantages—and how these disparate armies either overcame the hardships or capitalized on the opportunities.
And a lot of things go BOOM! so, really, what’s not to like?
July 15, 2009
Fanciful
April 7, 2014
Dash the Bosch.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews