John’s talk is based on his recently published book, The bombing of London 1940-41: the Blitz and its impact on the capital (Troubador, 2023, price £13.99), copies of which will be on sale. This new history of the London Blitz focuses on the enormous human cost and material destruction that occurred. The book describes how the Blitz progressed from the daylight attacks of the summer of 1940 through to the major raids of the spring of 1941, and looks at exactly what happened in the metropolis in those years. During the course of these attacks, thousands of bombs fell on London, many triggering an ‘incident’, a bland word that on hundreds of occasions effectively resulted in a disaster which in peacetime would have made national headlines. John will also talk about the Blitz as it affected today’s borough of Camden. 

John Conen grew up in the north-east London suburb of Chingford, and has a long-standing interest in London history and in particular the ordeal of World War 2.

This live event was also recorded and is available to view again on https://youtu.be/0-Ov-OR4ZQE