The First Day of the Blitz: September 7, 1940

by Peter Stansky

On September 7, 1940, the long-feared and anticipated attack by the German Luftwaffe plunged London into a cauldron of fire and devastation. This compelling book recreates that day in all its horror, using rich archival sources and first-hand accounts, many never before published. Eminent historian Peter Stansky weaves together the stories of people who recorded their experiences of the opening hours of the Blitz. Then, exploring more deeply, the author examines what that critical day meant to the nation at the time, and what it came to mean in following years.   Much of the future of Britain was determined in the first twelve hours of bombing, Stansky contends. The Blitz set in motion a range of responses that contributed to ultimate victory over Germany and to a transformation of British society. The wave of terror, though designed to quash morale, instead inspired stoicism, courage, and a new camaraderie. The tragic London bombing can reveal much of relevance to our own violent times, Stansky both the effectiveness of modern terror and its ultimate failure are made powerfully clear by the events of September 7, 1940.  

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, Reference

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Peter Stansky was educated at Yale University, King's College, Cambridge and Harvard University. He taught at Harvard and then at Stanford University, retiring in 2005 as the Frances and Charles Field Professor of History. At Stanford he taught modern British history, directed PhD dissertations, chaired his department as well as holding various administrative posts and in the course of his career was awarded several outside fellowships. He is also former President of the North American Conference on British Studies.

Reviews

[Kathryn Fulton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The many firsthand accounts quoted at length throughout the book are fascinating and varied. The author's attempts to synthesize them into an actual book are clumsy and successful. The result is a collection of interesting quotes thrown together in rough categories and linked with repetitive, sometimes self-contradictory prose.

[Rick Ouellette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long been fascinated by the story of how the British population withstood the brutal 8-month bombing campaign by Germany near the start of WW2. This book really fit the bill for me as I wanted to read a good self-contained history of this event that was not of exhaustive length. The author, in just under 200 pages, re-lives the first day (really first weekend) of this carpet bombing mostly as it happened in London (the other targeted cities are more briefly examined) and weaves in the socio-political context as well. The dock areas of the poorer, working-class East End were particularly victimized and the generous servings of contemporary press reports and personal recollections really bring this to life. Stansky explains that the overall failure of the Nazis to break the will of the populace (thus showing that Hitler was not invincible) finally made the British government more sensitive to the needs of the general citizenry, leading to more enlightened social policies after the war.

[David Vernon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up while I was in London (where else) as I was surrounded by history and the reminder of the Blitz. Unfortunately this book while having some interesting gems was generally repetitive and at times down right tedious. It often read as an academic thesis rather than a narrative history. I guess in an attempt to fill up 200 pages of text about the events of one day some repetition is required. However, it did read oddly when in each chapter (which were mostly thematically based) he discussed that some people were brave and others were not. This is rather self-evident for anyone who has a basic understanding of human nature. There is no question that Stansky has found some small intriguing reminiscences to bring into the public domain but generally if you are after a book about the Blitz I am sure there are many better.

[Gabriel Schoenfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning on September 7, 1940, Great Britain’s capital was pounded by Germany’s Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive nights. After that initial phase, with somewhat decreasing intensity punctuated by a few enormously destructive raids, London and other British industrial and port cities were bombed without interruption until May 11, 1941. On that final night, after nine months of trying to bring the country to its knees, the Germans unleashed their most lethal raid, killing nearly 1,500 Londoners. Altogether, the death toll in London from the Blitz was 40,000. This fascinating and absorbing book examines how the city coped.

[doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valuable first-hand insight and analysis of 7 September, 1940--the first day of the Blitz in London. The book gives just enough background to understand the events leading up to the Blitz, and details a little of what happens afterward.

[Catherine]

Source for Secrets of a Charmed Life

[Shrike58 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally written as an effort to compare September 7-8 of 1940 with other bolt from the blue disasters, particularly 9/11/2001, I don't think that this book has aged very well. This is especially since I gather Prof. Stansky was looking for exemplary lessons, and the exemplary lesson of 9/11 for the United States remains that outrage is no substitute for strategy.

Be that as it may, as simply an examination of that milestone in the Battle of Britain, I did find this a useful read, in terms of what the authorities expected, how the great aerial siege on London played out, and what it meant in terms of lived experience.

About the one major gaffe I'd attribute to this work in terms of historical understanding is buried in the footnotes, where Stansky comments about now the Allied aerial bombardment effort had a similar lack of strategic effectiveness compared to the German. Read Phillips Payson O'Brien's "How the War was Won" of 2015 for a cogent defense of Allied strategic bombing as an effective instrument of war.

Actual rating: 3.5.

[maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

doing my due diligence and finishing this since i did in fact write an entire research paper on it last semester without reading it in its entirety. if anyone wants to read research on anderson shelters during the london blitz you know who to call

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pedantic and tedious. Expected better.

[Remi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly decent book, it should be approached as an academic thesis. It does get fairly repetitive but I feel it shows the impact that war has on society well.

[Barbara Mader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars, lowered due to the redundancy, occasional poor writing, and pronouncements I found pompous, though others may not mind. Already familiar with much of the material, I was most interested in the bits new to me, so I may use the bibliography for further reading.

Redundancy: how many times does he need to say that some of the people were heroic under the stress of the Blitz, and some were not? Ditto that the government underestimated the resulting homelessness that would occur? Etc.

Poor writing: Stransky would, when speaking of various authors living in or near London, refer to their novels or short stories, but would do so in an awkward manner, i.e., mentioning a character's name without any context, irritating to the reader unfamiliar with the material (and there is no reason for the reader to know of these works; they are not well-known.)

Pomposity: Dragging in his views correlating the Blitz to 9/11, multiple times--once would have sufficed. And, not exactly pomposity, but his tendency to say obvious things over and over--how yes, some people behaved such and such a way but others did not. (The government thought the people would react in panic and some did but some didn't. Some people were stoic, some were scared silly. Some people left the city, some did not. Etc. Duh.)

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging compliation of personal accounts of those who suffered through the Nazi Blitzkrieg attacks on London. Very detailed and intimate.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter. Too many long quotes from other people for my tastes, but still worth looking at if you are interested in the subject.