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Kylie Newton has reviewed Osprey Publishing 'The Blitz 1940–41 The Luftwaffe's biggest strategic bombing campaign.' written by Julian Hale

An illustrated history of how the Luftwaffe intended 'the Blitz' to knock Britain out of the war, emphasising the German point of view and detailing how Britain's defences and civilians responded, by Julian Hale (Author) and Mads Bangsø (Illustrator). 96 pages.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHRONOLOGY

ATTACKER'S CAPABILITIES

Luftwaffe order of battle, 7 September, 1941
Doctrine
The aircraft
Equipment and tactics

DEFENDER'S CAPABILITIES

RAF order of battle, 7 September, 1941
Civil defence
The aircraft
Commanders

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES

THE CAMPAIGN

The Blitz begins, 7 September-13 October
The night assault
The conflict over future strategy
The London Blitz renewed
Fighter defence
The campaign on the Midlands and Southern ports
Regenschirm: The Birmingham Blitz
'Crucible': Sheffield
The Manchester Blitz
The Southampton Blitz
London campaign renewed
The Anti-Aircraft Contribution
Bromide, Domino and Starfish
The Battle of the ports
The Swansea and Cardiff Blitzes
The Clydebank Blitz- Problems over Bristol
Hull, Plymouth-Devonport
London
The Anti-shipping campaign

AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Review,

There has been plenty written about the blitz in general, and this book fills a niche with its focus on the Luftwaffe' bombing campaign and being an accessible book, ie a quick read over a weekend. The format is A3 portrait, and is full of detail for such a concise book: tables, maps, photographs, its all there. And words, too. Plenty of words.

The author's style appealed to me, and I found myself reading it until I had to go and do something else, I read it over a week; it is detailed, without being academic; and focused, without be boring.

As per the table of contents, there is plenty covered here, and the book follows a familiar format of one side, the other side, the campaign, and an analysis of the outcome. Which is fine and suits the topic well, if as a result some subjects are only covered fleetingly.

Essentially, the Luftwaffe was unable to bring Britian to her knees by bombing London alone, and once that became clear, Hitler and Gorring lost interest, and the campaign faltered.

There is a good explanation of how both sides sought to outwit the other, with the Germans for their part trying to improve navigation, and therefore accuracy for greater efficiency (ie getting the bombs within tens of meters, not hundreds of meters of the target), whilst the English tried to counter that by decoys, deception, or interdiction, including air curtains, balloons, and an aerial minefield, along with AAA.

The colour plates are a little sparse, and I'd of liked some colour profiles of the Luftwaffe's bombers, but this does not detract from an otherwise great read.

Definitely recommended as a good summary of the blitz, London, 1940-41.