Yet compared with other great moments of that war – Dunkirk, the North African campaign, D-Day – the Blitz remains curiously unexamined. Apart from fragmentary accounts and local records, there is little in the way of a comprehensive account of the experience that so many British civilians went through – as well as the social, political and cultural implications of the bombardment. Designed to break the morale of the British population, the nightly bombings certainly did devastate. But, as Juliet Gardiner shows in this hugely important book, they also served to galvanise the nation; from those terrifying eight months, a new determination amongst people and politicians steadily emerged.

Revealing, original and beautifully written, ‘The Blitz’ is a much-needed exploration of one of the most important moments in Second World War history.