This book is a well-written and extensively researched account of the effects on neutral Ireland of those crucial early years of the Second World War when the fear existed that Ireland might be invaded by either of the principal protagonists. The author has made good use of the surviving Luftwaffe records -- which he himself has translated -- to discuss in detail German air operations against Northern Ireland, the Republic and waters surrounding the island. In doing so he has produced the best account yet of the air raids on Belfast in the spring of 1941.