Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Between 1939 and 1945, London and its environs experienced destruction on a huge scale, with air raids and rocket attacks reducing buildings and entire streets to rubble. The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps speak of the human experience of war - of loss and camaraderie, of tragedy and heroism - conjuring up the days of blackout and the 'Spirit of the Blitz'. They tell a story, moreover, that was echoed in towns and cities across Britain and throughout the world.

The maps, meticulously hand-coloured to document the level of damage being wrought, 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 images of each of the 110 maps that make up the set, complete with archival tables of often grim statistics, this book marks the first time these remarkable documents - part historical artifacts, part social history - have been published for a general audience.

The book also includes 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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

London as it was a century ago is the basis for these maps; the 110 hand-colored records were originally released in 1916 and then updated to illustrate attacks on the city between 1939 and 1945. The scale of the maps (1:2,500) is enough to picture individual buildings, allowing the collection overall to create a fastidious portrait of sustained carnage. Ward (principal archivist, London Metropolitan Archives; curator, Mapping the London Blitz) presents maps which use different colors to point out the degree of damage and type of artillery, documenting destruction and heartbreak that is hard to fathom. Photographs of bomb sites and civilian and military personnel, reproductions of documents such as incident reports, and extensive narrative history add considerable background to the presentation. VERDICT This unusual and high-quality contribution to World War II collections will be welcomed in all libraries. Henrietta Verma is former editor, LJ Reviews, and a map and cartography aficionado © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.