I sat down to write this review at the beginning of a week was that was to see terrorist bomb outrages in London. Alongside my PC is a copy of today's newpaper...49 known to be dead...many more injured. The wave of shock, anger, pity and love; the admiration of many selfless and courageous acts; the revulsion at the sight of familiar places blown to pieces by an unseen enemy. It could not have brought home more strongly to me that London had experienced such things before - yes, on a much greater scale at times - and that the Zeppelin and Gotha raids on the city during the First World War must have stirred similar emotions among our forebears. For us, although each such outrage is appalling, we are to some extent prepared for it: we have seen it all before. Not so for the Londoners of 1917-1918. In comparison with the air raids of the Second World War these were but a pinprick, but the shock nonetheless stirred the country in redoubling its efforts to defeat the enemy.

Andrew Hyde has produced an excellent account of the Gotha raids. He deals with the background, the development of aircraft and men that carried out the raids, and follows - almost bomb for bomb - the path of some of the more devastating attacks. In particular, he was inspired to do so by the memorial to the many children, killed at their desks in a school in the crowded area of Poplar in east London.

Not being a great student of the air war, I learned a great deal - and was also interested to see references to the need to capture German airfields in Belgium in 1917. The plan for the eventual battle of Passchendaele is always talked of in terms of the recapture of the coast and the U-Boat facilities that were playing such a part in the near starvation of Britain's transatlantic supply line. Now we can add the need to halt the Gothas too.

Gradually, Andrew tells us, the air defence system was strengthened and the menace largely overcome. The last raid took place on the night of 19-20 May 1918. There is a good selection of photgraphs and many eyewitness accounts. One is by no less than Siegfried Sassoon, who found himself in Liverpool Street Station when it was hit.

Overll, well worth reading. Typical Leo Cooper production too: quality materials and binding, likely to remain in good condition for years to come. At a fraction under £20, a good buy.