Bombing the City
Civilian Accounts of the Air War in Britain and Japan, 1939–1945

This comparative account of civilian experiences of aerial bombing in World War II Britain and Japan reveals the universality of total war.

Aaron William Moore (Author)

9781108428255, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 October 2018

270 pages, 10 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.6 cm, 0.56 kg

'… this is a richly informative and thought-provoking book that will be enjoyed not only by scholars of Japanese and British history, but also by anyone with an interest in the horrors of indiscriminate bombing campaigns.' Simon Partner, The Journal of Japanese Studies

World War II is enshrined in our collective memory as the good war - a victory of good over evil. However, the bombing war has always troubled this narrative as total war transformed civilians into legitimate targets and raised unsettling questions such as whether it was possible for Allies and Axis alike to be victims of aggression. In Bombing the City, an unprecedented comparative history of how ordinary Britons and Japanese experienced bombing, Aaron William Moore offers a major new contribution to these debates. Utilising hundreds of diaries, letters, and memoirs, he recovers the voices of ordinary people on both sides - from builders, doctors and factory-workers to housewives, students and policemen - and reveals the shared experiences shaped by gender, class, race, and age. He reveals how it was that the British and Japanese public continued to support bombing elsewhere even as they experienced firsthand its terrible impact at home.

List of figures
Acknowledgements
Note to the reader
Featured diarists
Introduction: attacking the people: democracy, populism, and modern war
1. Give unto Moloch: family and nation in WWII
2. The muses of war: terror, anger, and faith
3. Romancing stone: human sacrifice and system collapse in the city
4. Defending our way of life: gender, class, age, and other oppressions
Conclusion: victory for the people: pacifism and the ashes of the post-war era
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1]