First Blitz - Softcover

Hanson, Neil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552155489 ISBN 13: 9780552155489

Publisher: Corgi Books, 2009

Synopsis

A world away from the killing fields of France was a battle that could have changed the face of history. Over the course of 1917, German bombers threatened to engulf London in firestorms - a portent of the London Blitz and the Battle of Britain over twenty years later. They were determined to bring London to its knees.

The First Blitz took place over eight nights in 1917, but it was the second wave of attacks in the summer of 1918, following the development of the 'Elektron' incendiary bomb, that came within an ace of obliterating London. The margin between the survival of the world's greatest capital city and its total destruction came down to less than one hour.

The events and decisions taken in the course of those fateful days were as important as anything that happened on the Western Front. With breathtaking insight, compelling drama and supreme narrative clarity, Neil Hanson tells the story of the air war that could have altered the course of the conflict, and with it the history of the twentieth century itself . . .

About this title

About the Author

Neil Hanson is the author of four acclaimed works of narrative history: The Custom of the Sea, The Dreadful Judgement,The Confident Hope of a Miracle. and The Unknown Soldier. He lives in Yorkshire with his family.

From the Back Cover

Far from the killing fields of France, a little-known battle was fought in the skies over London that nearly altered the course of the First World War, and with it the history of the twentieth century itself. The margin between survival and total destruction came down to less than one hour.
In four years, the Luftwaffe s England squadron had moved from crude canvas-and-wire light aircraft to four-engined giants as big as anything that flew in World War Two. This, combined with the development of a revolutionary incendiary bomb, gave Germany the chance to raze London to the ground. It was a chance that they came within an ace of taking
The 1940s bombing raids over London have taken such a powerful grip upon our imagination that the existence of an earlier Blitz, in World War I, will come to many readers as a complete surprise. Yet as Neil Hanson demonstrates in this gripping and well-researched book, it was in many ways more terrifying Daily Mail
Clearly and engagingly written, his book puts more academic historians to shame by discovering a big subject, investigating it thoroughly and drawing bold but far-reaching conclusions from it Sunday Telegraph

Edition details

• Publisher: Corgi Books
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0552155489
• ISBN 13: 9780552155489
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 592