In this astonishing portrait of a society at total war, we learn: the total casualties sustained by the UK up to the beginning of May 1945 amounted to close on one million. Of this total 746,109 were suffered by the Armed Forces (228,383 killed, 59,476 missing, 274,148 wounded and 184,102 prisoners of war). Between November 1943 and March 1944, Berlin was the most heavily bombed city in the world, well over 33,000 tons of bombs having been dropped on it by the R.A.F. alone. During the first 4 weeks of the continental campaign in North-West Europe] no fewer than 1,000,000 men, 183,500 vehicles, and 650,000 tons of stores were landed in Normandy. During this period the average daily number of convoys going across the Channel was 16. London was bombed every night except three from the 7th September to the end of November 1940. During the blitz the Post Office was still handling 10,000,000 packets and 500,000 parcels daily.