September 7, 1940 was the day when, out of the blue, Britain found itself propelled from the ‘phoney war’ into full-scale terror. It was not the first time bombs had been dropped on civilians; there had been numerous instances throughout Europe and North Africa over the previous 30 years. But it ushered in the practice of using deliberately arbitrary terror as a means of traumatising and demoralising an enemy.

The First Day of The Blitz recreates, through original and often unpublished documents, the full scale of the apocalyptic nightmare the citizens of London found themselves facing, and the heroic fortitude they displayed during their ordeal. It also shows how - much as in our own era - terrorism utterly failed in its purpose, instead rousing the beleaguered citizens to resistance and determination.

Judith Loriente is from Readings Hawthorn