Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Firestorm assembles a cast of distinguished scholars to review the origins, conduct, and consequences of the World War II U.S. and British raids on Dresden. Here is a panoramic reassessment of the evidence and the issues, including the question of whether the bombing of the city constitutes a war crime. Firestorm cogently demonstrates the reasons why Dresden has come to symbolize the military and ethical questions involved in the waging of total war.
Synopsis
On the night of February 13, 1945, British planes bombed the city of Dresden in Germany, causing devastating fires that obliterated the historic city center and killed thousands of people. The next day U.S. bombers returned for another attack. In all, more than a thousand aircrafts dropped almost 3,500 tons of high explosives, incendiaries, and flares on the city; a conservative estimate of the number killed was 25,000. Sixty years later these raids remain one of the most notorious and controversial episodes in the history of World War II. Firestorm assembles a cast of distinguished scholars, including Sebastian Cox, Donald Bloxham, Tami Davis Biddle, Nicola Lambourne, Sonke Neitzel, Richard Overy, Alan Russell, and Hew Strachan to review the origins, conduct, and consequences of the raids. Firestorm cogently demonstrates the reasons why Dresden has come to symbolize the military and ethical questions involved in the waging of total war.