The aerial bombardment of civilians, and the death, devastation and fear this has unleashed on non-combatants, have been hallmarks of the wars of recent decades. In this timely study, Susan Grayzel locates the origins of this modern form of air warfare in the air raids of the First World War. Encompassing the period between 1914 and 1942, her innovative account traces the political, social and cultural responses to the transformation of the civilian experience of war. By skilfully interweaving a wide range of sources, including letters, diaries, memoirs, popular and literary fiction and films, alongside press accounts and government documents, Grayzel has produced an accessible and compelling narrative that deepens our understanding not only of both world wars but also of the ways in which the state has attempted to mobilize civilians in defence of the national interest. The experience of the Blitz over Britain in the Second World War has become emblematic of the breakdown in the distinction between the home and military fronts in modern warfare. Grayzel argues, however, that it was the smaller-scale and lesser-known air raids between 1914 and 1918 that first transformed the relationship between soldiers and civilians and, crucially, between the state and the home. Home was no longer a place of safety, distanced from the frontline, but had become part of the war zone. The raids produced fear, shock and anger among civilians and in the press, and eventually forced the state, albeit reluctantly and in a piecemeal way, to acknowledge its obligation to protect civilians and to introduce limited civil defence measures. The First World War thus began the process whereby the air raid became “domesticated and normalized in daily life” (91), resulting in greater legitimacy for the state to intervene in home life. The home, once seen as a refuge from war, itself became militarised.