On the night of 10-11 May 1941, the Blitz reached its terrifying peak in the skies over London.

Over 500 aircraft and thousands of Luftwaffe aircrew took off for England, laden with hundreds of tonnes of bombs to drop indiscriminately on the capital's civilians. In a matter of hours, 1,486 Londoners were killed, 11,000 houses were destroyed, and millions of lives were changed for ever.

This attack almost brought Britain to military collapse. Using extensive survivors' testimony and hitherto classified documents, The Longest Night reveals how the Luftwaffe came within a whisker of total victory.

In a gripping, minute-by-minute account, Gavin Mortimer has recreated the experience of Londoners on this one terrifying night when the survival of the country hung in the balance.