JULIET GARDINER, Author
The Blitz: attrition, endurance and experimentation
Date/Time: 21st October 2010, 17:30 - 18:30
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The Blitz of 1940-41 tested the fabric of British society in unprecedented ways, irrevocably changing not only Britain’s cityscapes but people’s aspirations too.
From 7 September 1940 until 10 May 1941 Britain suffered relentless aerial attacks that brought not only death, injury and destruction, but also tested the fabric of British society in an intense and unprecedented way. The role of the state, a sense of national identity, the vagaries of class, race and gender, the opportunities of science, medicine, art and more were all brought into sharp focus during those intense eight months of attrition that irrevocably changed not only the Britain's cityscapes but the expectations of its people too.
Juliet Gardiner was editor of History Today. She has also been an academic and a publisher and, since 2001, a full time writer . Her most recent books include Wartime: Britain 1939-1945; The Children's War (in association with the Imperial War Museum), The Thirties: an intimate history and The Blitz: The British Under Attack. She is the editor of the Penguin Dictionary of British History and is a frequent lecturer reviewer and broadcaster both on radio and television. She also acted as historical consultant to The 1940s House and The Edwardian Country House for Channel Four (and wrote the accompanying books) for the film version of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement and for the new BBC drama series of Upstairs Downstairs, set in the 1930s this time.