Synopses & Reviews
The Longest Night reveals the untold story of the horrific bombing raid that almost brought Britain to military collapse - using extensive survivors' testimony and previously classified documents to reveal just how close the Luftwaffe came to total victory. This vivid, dramatically told account depicts how fate shifted based on Hitler's mistaken belief that he'd actually lost the air war over Britain - and portrays the unsurpassed, "we-can-take-it" bravery of the British people when they'd been pushed beyond all human endurance.
Review
"Part military history, part chronicle of survivors' memories and part moving tribute to London, the result is reminiscent of Richard Collier's
The City That Would Not Die, but is a captivating and important contribution in its own right...Mortimer's dramatic renderings of what Londoners and German and British military men experienced make for compelling nonfiction." -
Kirkus Reviews "A microscopic analysis of this night frozen in time." - Mail on Sunday (London)
Synopsis
"An emotionally stirring account of the single most devastating attack on London during the Blitz... A captivating and important contribution... History that reads like a novel."--Kirkus
The untold story of the massive bombing raid that almost brought Britain to military collapse,
The Longest Night reveals just how close the Luftwaffe came to total victory. On the night of May 10, 1941, Nazi Germany sent some five hundred aircraft to drop more than seven hundred tons of explosives on London. This vivid, dramatically told account depicts how fate shifted based on Hitler's mistaken belief that he'd actually lost the air war over Britain, and portrays the unsurpassed, we-can-take-it bravery of the British people when they'd been pushed beyond all human endurance.
"An excellent book... Gavin Mortimer has interviewed scores of survivors for his gripping narrative."--Andrew Roberts, The Wall Street Journal
About the Author
Gavin Mortimer is a native Londoner. He began writing by freelancing for several publications, including the London Evening Standard, the Observer, and the Guardian. He has contributed articles to a richly diverse range of magazines from Esquire to BBC History to Rugby World. This is his fourth book, the first to be published in the U.S.