The German bombing raids on London from September 1940 to May 1941- the London Blitz- provide some of the most dramatic accounts from the British Home Front during WW2. But often overlooked in historical studies of the Blitz are the stories written by Londoners themselves. In shelters, in kitchens and in offices, they recorded their thoughts on their daily lives under duress, scribbling into diaries, notebooks, and on the backs of envelopes.

London Was Ours analyses over 200 letters, diaries and memoirs, restoring forgotten voices of ordinary individuals to the memory of the Blitz and of WW2. These fascinating documents provide an intimate glimpse into the private world of Londoners, disclosing personal and family strategies for coping with the privations, stresses, and dangers of war, as well as hopes for a post-war world.

In Amy Bell's revealing analysis of their funny, sad and often touching stories, we see for the first time the extent to which Londoners wrote themselves into a collective national history through the indelible narratives they left behind.