Summary

A Note to Readers: After moving to Manhattan, Erik Larson finally understood what 9/11 would have been like for those living in New York City, compared to the experience of those who watched events unfold from a distance. This prompted him to reflect on the experience of the German aerial assault on London of 1940-41 and ask himself how Prime Minister Winston Churchill would have experienced those events. The result is this book: an intimate account of Churchill's first year as prime minister during an extreme national crisis.

Bleak Expectations: With the onset of World War Two, no one doubted that an attack on Britain would come eventually. Civil defense experts predicted both aerial attack and a ground invasion that would reduce the country, and London in particular, to pandemonium. Strict blackout rules were implemented and pamphlets were circulated...