The Night Blitz: 1940-1941 [Hardcover]

John Ray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

Defeated in the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe crossed the Channel with a new plan in mind. For eight months, they ceaselessly pounded industrial cities and seaports in order to smash England's war economy and break the spirit of its citizens--who had never before experienced such a massive attack. In this finely structured account, a World War Two historian assesses the tactics employed throughout the night blitz and graphically recalls its effects throughout the country, month by month.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr John Ray has taught history for forty years, and published over thirty books on historical subjects, most of them designed to help students understand history better and appreciate that history is no dry academic subject: history is all around them, and they are part of it. Previous titles include The Battle of Britain and The Second World War. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Booksales; Reprint edition (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785816011
• ISBN-13: 978-0785816010
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,889,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Moderately Interesting, July 13, 2011

By 

C. J. Thompson "Arctic John" (Pond Inlet, Nunavut Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Night Blitz: 1940-1941 (Hardcover)

This book covers the Blitz in 260 odd pages (excluding appendices) and thus is able to provide little more than an overview. There is some discussion of the developing electronics war which is fairly interesting (although covered much better elsewhere) and the rest of the narrative is given over to a week by week and night by night recounting of the raids. This does rather tend to get a bit tedious after a bit. The author loses no time in announcing that he lived through the Blitz and it becomes apparent that his views on the subject have long ago been set in stone. He brooks no criticism of Churchill and, when he is forced to acknowledge that the populace did not face the onslaught with universal 'stiff upper-lips', it is clear that he does so grudgingly and with some irritation. This is the most unfortunate limitation of the book since it could have been much improved by combining the military side of the story with a more detailed and unbiased look at the effect of the campaign on the citizenry.