Imperial War Museum

Located in the stately 1815 building that once housed the Bethlem Royal Hospital for the insane (aka Bedlam), the Imperial War Museum holds an important collection of twentieth-century art, much of it officially commissioned during WWI and WWII. In addition to examples of the machinery of war, official communications, manuscripts of war literature and other, more personal artefacts from the conflicts of the twentieth century, there are two exhibits - the Blitz and the Trench - which attempt to bring the experience of war to life for visitors fortunate enough not to have experienced it. Crimes Against Humanity is a harrowing 30-minute film about genocide and ethnic conflict in Armenia, Nazi-occupied Europe, Cambodia, East Timor, Bosnia, Rwanda and elsewhere (not recommended for under-16s). The Holocaust Exhibition is a permanent exhibition that uses artefacts, film, documents, photographs and survivors' testimony to bear witness to the Nazi persecution of the Jews and other groups before and during WWII (not recommended for under-14s). The Children's War examines WWII through the eyes of British children - those who were evacuated as well as those who remained in towns and cities - using original letters, diaries, drawings and photographs. Visitors can explore the inside of an Anderson shelter and walk through a re-created 1940s house interior, and there are hands-on features on gas attacks, air raid precautions and war-time entertainment. Breakthrough is a major re-hang of the Imperial War Museum's collection of British art, incorporating official and non-official war art from both World Wars as well as contemporary pieces.