Wartime London in Paintings

During the Second World War, London was transformed at night by the sounds of sirens, falling bombs and crackling fires, and the spectacle of searchlights scanning the skies. At dawn, sights appeared that shocked but also stirred the creative spirit.

Wartime London in Paintings shows how the artists of the 1940s responded to the drama of London under attack. Drawing on IWM’s unmatched collection, this richly illustrated book delves into how 36 artists recorded scenes of the city while at the same time enduring the privations of war.

‘a master biography of that era and its people’ - Simon Jenkins, author of A Short History of London

‘a notable curation, a sequence of revelations recording acts of modest witness that define a generation’ - Iain Sinclair

 ‘opens an entirely fresh window on London at war'- Jerry White, Professor of Modern London History at Birkbeck, University of London

‘illuminates the sensory experiences of millions of Londoners'- - Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London