Set in a dystopian future, humanity has been driven underground by fears of terrorist attack. Dwelling in the sewers of an abandoned city, society is closed, crowded, obsessed with security and its own biological processes. In our post-9/11 world, Barfield's portrayal of the repressive, claustrophobic effects of anxiety on human communities is startlingly timely. Night Operation is a contemporary allegory on the fall and potential rise of humanity. Owen Barfield is one of the twentieth century's most significant philosophers. He is widely known for his explorations of human consciousness, the history of language, the origins of poetic effect, and cross-disciplinary thought. A member of the Inklings, an Oxford group of scholars, Barfield's thinking informed the writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien, among others. Night Operation is Barfield's only work of science fiction. His vision of society at an evolutionary turning point is original, daring and prophetic.

September 1940: defeated in the Battle of Britain, despite their superior numbers and better equipped aircraft, the Luftwaffe launched a new campaign of attack, their target this time the civilian population. For eight months, with hardly a night's break, Luftwaffe bombers pounded industrial cities and seaports in a concentrated attempt to smash Britain's war economy and destroy civilian morale. It was the first time a civilian population had been subject to mass attack, night after night, and important lessons were to be learned on both sides. If this campaign failed - as it did - then surely Britain could win the war.In this finely structured and consistently fascinating study of the campaign, Second World War historian John Ray assesses the strategies, weapons and defence tactics employed throughout the Night Blitz. He graphically recalls the effects of the Blitz on British cities, industry and people, month by month. This was the war at home, when terror fell indiscriminately from the skies. Yet despite all the death and destruction, the spirit of the British people remained undaunted even in their darkest hours.

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