The Blitz: The story of the blitz of London

by Constantine FitzGibbon

A most interesting account of the air attack on London, particularly good in its discussion of the social changes and adjustments produced by the blitz. Major Robert Louis Constantine Lee-Dillon FitzGibbon was an American-born Irish-British historian, translator and novelist. Introduction 1 Awaiting the Bombers 2 The Terror Moves Closer 3 The Blow to the Heart 4 The Terror Face to Face 5 Fifty-seven Nights 6 London Goes to Ground 7 When the City Burned 8 Nightscene in Chelsea 9 The Café de Paris 10 Conclusion 11 Acknowledgments

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 8, 2020

About the author

Robert Louis Constantine Lee-Dillon FitzGibbon

Reviews

[Bob Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stirring subject, written well, electronically mangled

First, for those interested in how Londoners survived the blitz, this book is illuminating and I suspect well written and edited in its original form. I learned a lot from it.
BUT ... I read it in electronic form, and those who are responsible for its electronic version should be ashamed.
I’m a retired newspaper editor and here is my suspicion: those responsible used a crude optical character reading program to scan the paper original and set the type for the electronic version; then did not proofread the result. Therefore, the entire electronic version is rife with typos, goon babble and burps of random characters. “Clay” equals “day,” “car” may or may not equal “ear.” And it goes on and on. I felt like a cryptographer while reading some chapters.
I love reading on my IPad using the Kindle app, but in this case, do yourself a favor and buy a hard copy.

[CR Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book as part of some research I am doing as preparation for a novel set at the height of the Blitz. The book it’s full of interesting facts and is very useful for my purposes especially the recounting of verbal experiences by survivors of the bombing. The reader gets a real feel of the horror of war on their own doorsteps. The bombing of the Cafe de Paris is vividly described.

However, the author allows her ant-left wing bias to impact on her writing. So, Labour London councils never seem to get right whilst those of a Conservative persuasion do a really good job!

As has been noted by other reviewers, the electronic version of this book is a disgrace full of typos and errors. As a researcher, I had to overlook these faults to get to the facts.

Overall, a useful book for my purposes.