Brian Barton's new book on the Belfast Blitz скачать в хорошем качестве

Brian Barton's new book on the Belfast Blitz

By Ricky Thompson Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Belfast blitz next year, local author Brian Barton has released a new book detailing the tragic impact of the German air raids. The Belfast blitz involved two main raids in 1941, killing over 900 civilians and badly damaging large swathes of the city during World War II. The new book, entitled The Belfast Blitz - The City in the War Years, is a revised edition of one of Mr Barton's previous publications from 1989. It examines the reasons for the authorities’ lack of preparation and describes the full terror of the blitz. The book also details how the raids exposed extreme poverty in Belfast and assesses the effect on sectarian relations within the city, on North/South relations and on the relationship between Stormont and Westminster. According to a spokesperson for the Ulster Historical Foundation, which published the book, it is the most wide-ranging, comprehensive and accurate account of the Belfast blitz yet written. "Drawing on a rich range of primary and secondary sources it gets closer to the events described than any previous publication. Large numbers of people, including first-hand witnesses, were interviewed, and documentary material was assembled from some thirty archive centres. "Vividly illustrated with almost two hundred original photographs, many previously unpublished, the book also contains for the first time the full list of civilian dead – almost nine hundred names – compiled by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "It will thus serve as a timely memorial, on the seventy-fifth anniversary in 2016, of one of the most devastating periods in Belfast’s history." Mr Barton was thrilled to be launching his new book: "I wrote a book on the blitz about 25 years ago and I was aware then that there was additional material that I could have looked at and now I've written a second volume and it's much more comprehensive than the initial one was. "The book covers the two main raids and tries to bring them to life to give people an experience of the blitz itself." Last week a motion was brought before Belfast City Council to host commemorative events across the city for the victims next year. It will be one of the last significant anniversaries of the blitz when eyewitnesses will still be available. Facts: There were two major German air raids in 1941 - one on Easter Tuesday (April 15) and three weeks later on the night of May 4. They killed some 932 civilians. Most affected areas were the north, east, the city centre, and the shipyards and aircraft factory. The April raid by 180 German aircraft predominantly involved 200 tonnes of high explosives. The raid in May included 96,000 incendiary fire bombs. No other city, save London, lost so many citizens in one night.