The Blitz cover art

The Blitz

The British Under Attack

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Blitz

By: Juliet Gardiner
Narrated by: Catherine Harvey
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

From the author of ‘Wartime’ and ‘The Thirties’comes an outstanding history of the most prolonged and devastating attack ever endured by Britain's civilian population – the Blitz.

September 1940 marked the beginning of Nazi Germany's sustained attack on civilian Britain. Lasting eight months, the Blitz was a new and terrible form of warfare that had been predicted throughout the 1930s, widely feared since Neville Chamberlain's declaration that Britain was at war.

Yet, compared with other great events of that war – Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, D-Day – the Blitz remains curiously overlooked; while the London Blitz has been much documented, there exists very little in the way of a comprehensive account of the Blitz experience as a whole – or of its social, political and cultural implications.

In her new book, critically acclaimed historian Juliet Gardiner finally gives the Blitz the historical attention it deserves. Exploring this national story, she charts the impact of the nightly bombings on the entire country. And while loss and devastation affected the whole of Britain, the attacks also served to galvanise the nation: in the face of the terrifying Nazi onslaught, a new determination steadily emerged.

Revealing, original and beautifully written, The Blitz is a much-needed re-examination of one of the most important aspects of Second World War history.

©2010 Juliet Gardiner (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Military War
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The BBC War Reports cover art
Britain's War cover art
The Chernobyl Disaster: The History and Legacy of the World's Worst Nuclear Meltdown cover art
Coventry cover art
Auntie's War: The BBC During the Second World War cover art
Our Hidden Lives cover art
Eyewitness 1900-1949 cover art
Wartime Summer cover art
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete BBC Collection cover art
Sherlock Holmes: The Carleton Hobbs Collection cover art
Above the Trenches cover art
Australian Heroines of World War One cover art
The Diary of Samuel Pepys cover art
Tommy's War cover art
Eyewitness: 1950-1999 cover art
Christmas at War cover art

What listeners say about The Blitz

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    35
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Relentless

A relentless document of resilience and destruction, across the whole UK, covering not only the well known stories of London and Coventry but also the lesser known and no less harrowing experiences of many other places like Strathclyde and Belfast. Arresting vignettes of personal experience are woven in together with social and political commentary. Recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The Blitz

Really enjoyed this informative book. Full of stories and from a time before I was born when everybody pulled together and got on with it. The fighting spirit tight enough.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing what people lived through

A fascinating book that really brings home the reality of a nation at war. The carnage and destruction of our cities is described in detail - and makes me remember too that we did even more to german cities. Well read and full of anecdote and first hand evidence of what it was like on the ground. Only misses out on a fifth star because, perhaps inevitably, the detailed accounts of raids does become repetitive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

compelling listen

I didn't realise how horrific the blitz was. This detailed accout brings to light the suffering and resilience of people during those tough times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Extraordinary

Beautifully read. I rewound so many times to re listen to the rich and evocative details. How it’s made me miss my dear Nan. I wish I had pressed her more to talk about her life during the time portrayed in this marvellous book. One of the best books I’ve come across about an era I am drawn. Highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

An avalanche of information

This is an excellent piece of research and writing. It cuts through all the old stories of war time spirit and "We'll meet again" style propaganda. It's all here - the thieves, the deceptions, the making money, the poor preparation, the destruction, the death and the depression. The good stories are there too overall giving an accurate account of how terrible it must have been.
The sheer amount of information in this book does not make it the easiest of listens but if you want to know in-depth about this subject then this is for you. I've given it four stars as it’s such an impressive work but as a casual listen it would be a two or three star book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful