Art from the First World War Book of Postcards

Imperial War Museums

Pomegranate

Winston Churchill Book of Postcards

<div>Late on the night of May 16, 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force on a mission code-named Operation Chastise--an audacious bombing raid across the English Channel. Their aim? Destroy three dams in the Ruhr Valley, the industrial heartland of Germany. The dams were fiercely protected. Torpedo nets in the water prevented underwater attacks, leaving air attack the only option. But anti-aircraft guns stood ready to wreak havoc on any enemy bombers daring enough to attempt an approach. What the Germans didn't know, however, was that 617 Squadron had a secret weapon--the "bouncing bomb"--and that it would be the difference maker in this attack. &#8203;Using rarely seen archival footage from Imperial War Museums' unique collection, this flip book recreates the work that went into this raid, enabling readers to watch, frame by frame, as RAF pilots attempted to perfect their technique for dropping the bouncing bomb and getting it to detonate right on its target.</div>

The Dambusters Flip Book

History

Military

Of the countless commemorations of the centennial of World War I, the most striking and unforgettable was surely an art installation at the Tower of London. Created by Paul Cummins, with installation design by Tom Piper, the installation was titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, and it consisted of 888,246 ceramic poppies that slowly were added to the Tower’s moat between July 18 and November 11, 2014. Each poppy represented a British or Colonial military fatality during the war; taken together, they offered a remarkable visual representation of the staggering human cost of the conflict. The installation garnered worldwide attention and drew more than five million visitors. This book presents specially commissioned color photographs of the installation at the Tower and through its later travels to nineteen other locations throughout the United Kingdom. Featuring forewords by Cummins and Piper reflecting on the conception and creation of the project, the book captures the artwork in all its power.

Poppies: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

Reference

World War II represented the height of the close relationship between America and Britain, as they banded together to defend the British Isles and attempt to roll back the Axis armies on the continent. A key component of both efforts was the nascent United States Army Air Force. At its peak strength in 1944, the USAAF employed 450,000 Americans in Britain, a huge force that served alongside British RAF pilots and soldiers to help protect the island and project force throughout Europe. Somewhere in England celebrates the Americans who served as part of the USAAF in England, offering an unprecedented look at that group of airmen and support staff, and their effects on the communities in which they were stationed. Drawing on the 15,000 photographs in the Roger Freeman collection, the Imperial War Museum has assembled a book that shows us the USAAF at work and play, including a large number of photographs in color. The resulting book is a testament to the power—and success—of the US-British partnership in the darkest days of World War II. In May 2016, the IWM will be re-opening the American Air Museum at IWM Duxford after a major refurbishment, and the publication of this book will coincide with that event.

Somewhere in England: American Airmen in the Second World War

Europe

On May 10, 1940, Britain’s new prime minister strode purposefully down to the basement of an anonymous government building and entered a top secret command center. “This,” growled Winston Churchill, “is the room from which I will run the war.” At the war’s end, Churchill and his colleagues left the chamber and locked the door behind them—and the War Rooms remained there, untouched and little known, until the early 1980s. Today, those historic chambers are on display as the Churchill War Rooms exhibit. The Churchill War Rooms Guidebook provides an inside view of Britain’s wartime nerve center. In this concise, but informative reference, readers can meet the people who worked at the War Rooms, see how the work carried out in this underground bunker helped Britain win the war, and delve into the life story of the man himself—Winston Churchill. Highly illustrated, this is an accessible overview of one of Britain’s most significant historic sites.

Churchill War Rooms Guidebook

Throughout World War II, the British government employed a diverse group of artists to produce a rich visual record of wartime events. But the art from this important collection often far exceeds this objective, giving voice to both the artist and the soldiers who are depicted. Art from the Second World Warcontains more than fifty images chosen from among the Imperial War Museum’s impressive collection of works by war artists. In Art from the Second World War, the collected works show lives in extremity. Alongside artworks by the brothers John and Paul Nash are works by Henry Moore and Laura Knight, among many others.

Art from the Second World War

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

The First World War A–Z is a concise, pocket-size guide, taking readers through the impressive collection of materials related to the Great War in the Imperial War Museum to shed light on this historic event on the occasion of its centenary. Beginning with “Aces," a term first coined by French newspaperman Adople Pégoud to describe the skilled and dedicated fighter pilots credited with shooting down enemy aircraft, and ending with the German airship “Zeppelin,” the book takes readers through entries including "Airplanes," “Rationing,” “Rats,” “Recruitment,” “The Red Baron,” “Remembrance,” “The Royal Flying Corps,” “Shell Shock,” and “Scrap of Paper,” the infamous German term for the 1839 Treaty of London, which guaranteed Belgium’s neutrality. Throughout the book, individual entries are brought to life with moving―and sometimes funny―excerpts from firsthand accounts by soldiers and others who took part in the war. Packed with stories and surprising facts that will intrigue anyone with an interest in World War I, The First World War A–Z covers virtually all aspects of the war, from leaders and battles to songs, superstitions, and slang and accompanies a major exhibition that will open at the Imperial War Museum in July.

The First World War A-Z: From Assassination to Zeppelin - Everything You Need to Know

Historical Study & Educational Resources

The Imperial War Museum’s archive is home to more than 20,000 hours of moving image material spanning the twentieth century in Britain. The clips range from documentary film and official newsreels, to unedited combat footage, and amateur shots. In the museum's early days the films could only be viewed through Mutoscope machines from the late nineteenth century that functioned much like a flipbook, giving life to a series of motionless images. The Mutoscope did not project images on a screen, rather the machine was used by one person at a time. To re-create the experience of watching these historical film reels, some of the most compelling scenes have been reproduced in these action-filled flipbooks.   As you flip through the Spitfire Flipbook, you’ll come face to face with a 1940s Spitfire plane flying through the air. The single seat fighter aircraft dips and dives at lightning speeds as the pages progress. The Spitfire was the most commonly used airplane during the Battle of Britain and was used as both a fighter-bomber and for training.    Replicating the action of old-time film strips, these flipbooks will be a delight for both children and adults, transporting those who flip the pages to Britain’s wartime past.

Spitfire Flip Book

Come face to face with the iconic Sherman tank as it moves through liberated Northwest Europe in 1944. The infamous Sherman tank was the most widely used Allied tank of the Second World War, and the sheer number of units produced played a crucial part in the Allies winning the war. Using rare footage from the vast film archive at Imperial War Museums, this flip book shows the Sherman tank moving through northwest Europe, an area recently liberated by the Allies. Imperial War Museums has managed a film archive from its very beginnings as an institution in 1917. The collection extends to over 23 thousand hours of moving images, representing a wide and diverse range of material from public information films and official newsreels to documentaries and unedited combat film.

Sherman Tank Flip Book

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