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London at War, 1939-1945

By: Philip Ziegler
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pimlico
ISBN: 071269871X
ISBN-13: 9780712698719
Released: 07 Mar 2002
RRP: £16.99
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Customer Reviews

A compelling story - By: Kurt Messick, 22 Nov 2005
Ziegler has managed to give a real sense of what it must have been like to be in London during the war years. Ziegler takes the tactic of examining history as the impact of events upon the people of London -- the growing clouds of war, the first alerts, the lulls, the bombing, the terror & the courage of a people determined to keep their community, their great city, alive. He describes the slow acclimatising toward austerity of which not alll wanted to participate; particularly in the lull between the declaration of war (in which there seemed to be little impact on the London scene save rising prices & product scarcity) & the beginning of bombing (at which time the population ralllied much more completely).

'On 24 August (1940) the first bombs fell on central London, starting fires in the East End. Probably the bombing was accidental, but retaliatory raids on Berlin made it inevitable that the process, once started, would escalate dramaticallly.' The ralllying effort to build the community was great, such that 'by February 1941, it was estimated that 92 per cent of London's population could be accommodated in public or private shelters.'

At the end of the war, the preparations of the rationing ministries & the police to keep civil order were almost as detailed & daunting as D-Day; the demand for material (flags) & food for celebrations required a reaffirmation of ration regulations; London & the rest of Britain would still remain on rations for years after the war. Even ceremonies such as the State Opening of Parliament would be scaled down due to the unreadiness of transport or lack of men & material.

Ziegler regrets that human nature reverted back to norm & the community spirit built up during the war quickly disintegrated after the war. Grand plans for rebuilding were never carried out -- London incurred more than half the casualties of cities during the war (over 80,000 in London alone), & the community pulled together to survive, but this cohesion didn't last after the threat was gone; however, Ziegler states, 'there is much that Londoners can look back on with pride, remarkably little about which they need to feel ashamed.'

Picture plates complete the visual story of London at war (the photograph on the cover of men looking through the still-standing library shelves of a bombed-out building is fascinating), & the writing style of Ziegler is compelling & full. A journey into our recent past definitely to be taken.