The Blitz: An Alternative History

Warfare

History Hit

History

4.5 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2021

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Between September 1940 and May 1941, the German Luftwaffe relentlessly pounded British cities with bombs in an attempt to force the British to surrender. Ultimately whilst killing thousands and causing extensive damage the bombing offensive failed. The morale of the British public was largely undimmed and war production was never seriously impacted. The Blitz has become a key part of the British national psyche with many celebrating the 'Blitz spirit' with people coming together and helping one another during the crisis. But, as with much of history, the reality was much messier and complex. Spivs and looters profited from the chaos, people explored new ideas and sexualities, and there were new opportunities for women. In this interview from the archive of Dan Snow's History Hit the author of The Secret History of the Blitz, Joshua Levine, discusses the myths and realities of the Blitz and the social and political changes it brought about.

Transcript

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1:02.8	Now once a week I like to delve deep into the history hit archive
1:05.8	to pull out an episode that I think deserves just that little bit more attention.
1:10.5	And this one is on the Blitz and alternative history. We know about the Blitz spirit,
1:16.2	the idea of people coming together and helping one another during crisis.
1:20.4	All of this of course did happen, but as with much of history the reality was much messier and complex and there are alternative histories that we need to hear about and so this one from the archive is with Josh Levine, the author of The Secret History of the Blitz.
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