The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps 1939-1945

The aerial bombardment of London during the Second World War is one of the most significant events in the city's modern history. Between 1939 and 1945, London and its environs experienced destruction on a huge and deadly scale, with air raids and rocket attacks reducing entire buildings and streets to rubble. The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps, meticulously hand-coloured to document the level of damage being wrought on London's built environment, represent a key record of the destruction, the impact of which can still be seen in the capital's urban and social landscapes. Featuring new, high-quality reproductions of each of the 110 maps that make up the set, this book marks the first occasion on which these truly remarkable documents - part historical artefacts, part social history - have been published for a general audience. An introduction sets the maps in the full historical context of the terrible events that gave rise to them. Also included is a series of extraordinary photographs of the damage done to the City of London in particular, taken with a sympathetic yet unflinching eye by police constables Arthur Cross and Fred Tibbs. Complete with additional archival photographs and tables of often grim statistics, this landmark publication offers an invaluable graphic representation of one of the most dramatic and affecting episodes in the history of London.