Not specifically about just dresden but a great piece on the bombings of german cities and why authors and people in germany in general didnt talk much about it. American writer kurt vonnegut was best known for his book slaughterhousefive, or the childrens crusade. Back in the 1960s and 70s, kurt vonnegut was a bestselling author and considered one of the countrys most brilliant postwar novelists. The bombing of dresden in february 1945 has remained one of the most controversial aspects of world war two. The first round of bombing consisted of high explosives, which would expose wooden frames of buildings.
Feb, 2015 in memory of the dresden firestorm music. Sixty years later these raids remain one of the most notorious, and also one of the most controversial, episodes in the history of the second world war. Several german cities were targeted but it is the bombing of dresden, and its utter destruction, that came to. A series of allied firebombing raids begins against the german city of dresden, reducing the city to rubble and flames, and killing as many as 5,000 people. The bombing of dresden 1945 by crang, jeremy a, addison, paul isbn. This time hes hired by a priest visiting the city from the vatican to help recover a stolen artefact, which leads to an intriguing and rather complicated plot which im not sure i completely followed. The bombing of dresden a summary from about 10 pm on the night of february 1945 until noon the following day, the east german city of dresden was the subject of one the most intense bombing raids of the second world war.
Published in 2000 by roc books, jim butchers first novel in the dresden series introduces the enigmatic hero of the story, harry dresden, as a savvy wizard in chicago struggling to make ends meet as a less than successful private eye. Peeling back layers of revisionist history europe is a fortress. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. By the beginning of 1945, german fortunes looked bleak. The inferno the destruction of dresden, the florence of the elbe.
Understanding the bombing of dresden book summaries, test. Since the end of world war ii, both the death toll and the motivation for the attack have become fierce historical battlegrounds, as german feelings of. In this photo taken by richard peter may 10, 1895 october 3, 1977 for his book dresdeneine kamera klagt an dresden a camera accuses published in east germany in 1949, he stood on the viewing platform of the dresdener rathaus dresden city hall to photograph the ruins of. The bombing of dresden was a historic benchmark that demonstrated the power of strategic bombing. The book is based on a series of 37 articles written on the strategic bombing during world war ii by david irving called wie deutschlands stadte starben english. Bomber command had suffered one of the highest casualty rates of any branch of the military with over 55,000 bomber aircrew killed during the war.
Death masks is the fifth book in the dresden files series, which tells the story of chicagos only wizard private investigator. The allies decided to use incendiary bombs, over 3900 tons of them, over the city of dresden on a carnival night when entire families were ou. The idea of area bombing, or as some cynically state, city killing, was a new concept to warfare, with the aim of destroying large areas, indiscriminate of populationindustryetc. Feb 15, 20 i survived the bombing of dresden and continue to believe it was a war crime this article is more than 7 years old. Critics say that the military value of the bombing did not justify dresdens near destruction and that the city could have been spared, like rome, paris, and kyoto. Sinclair mckays the fire and darkness is an odd sort of book as it documents the firebombing of dresden on february,14 of 1945. In the last months of world war ii, allied bombers conducted several major bombing raids on the eastern german city of dresden.
Bomber harris and others in bomber command were furious about the memo. The city of dresden was a historic center of europe, and was known worldwide for its splendid architecture. The firebombing of dresden original newsreel youtube. I was expecting more of a war book describing the bombing of dresden, the units involved in the destruction of the city. How people rebuilt after the horrific firebombing of dresden. A dutydance with death 1969, which is a satirical novel about world war ii experiences and journeys through time of a soldier named billy pilgrim. From about 10 pm on the night of february 1945 until noon the following day, the east german city of dresden was the subject of one the most intense bombing raids of the second world war. In his book dresden, mckay has made good use of the oral history archive available in the city to reconstruct the personal stories of survivors. The first two are generally considered the worst books, but even then they are still excellent. The sunday telegraph, chose my book for serialisation. In two days, 1,200 raf and usaaf bombers dropped 3,900 tons of. All this happened, more or less, is how vonnegut introduces the novel. Cats cradle had finally put him on the map in 1963 after he had been writing for nearly two.
How germanys cities died for the german journal neue illustrierte. Kurt vonneguts celebrated novel about the dresden firebombing. A dutydance with death is a science fictioninfused antiwar novel by kurt vonnegut, first published in 1969. Firestorm the bombing of dresden 1945 assembles a cast of. The bombing was controversial because dresdena historic city located in. As a prisoner of war held in dresden, i still suffer the memories. Nov 05, 2009 a series of allied firebombing raids begins against the german city of dresden, reducing the city to rubble and flames, and killing as many as 5,000 people. Each contributor writes from his or her own perspective, offering the reader a panoramic. The three main instances of incendiary warfare in wwii began in hamburg in 1943 and followed by dresden and tokyo in 1945. Only six bombers were shot down, as german air defenses were weak. It is wellwritten, fastpaced and informative as well as opinionated.
In four raids between and 15 february 1945, 722 heavy bombers of the british royal air force raf and 527 of the united states army air forces usaaf dropped more than 3,900 tons of highexplosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city. Slaughterhousefive was read widely as a graphic statement on the futility of war, capturing the zeitgeist of the time, when antivietnam war protests were at their zenith. The center of town possessed no military targets or industry. Magic is very real in the dresden files, so readers who enjoy topics such as werewolves, vampires. The firebombing of dresden on the night of th february, the allies bombed dresden in two waves, three hours apart. As a prisoner of war held in dresden, i still suffer the memories of those terrible events and my anger refuses to subside. Given the high number of civilian casualties and the relatively few strategic targets, some even called the bombing of dresden a war. Mar 09, 2006 movie about dresden stirs criticism in germany germans have never been sure how to deal with the world war ii bombing of the city of dresden. Since the series is so freaking long, ill divide it int. Movie about dresden stirs criticism in germany germans have never been sure how to deal with the world war ii bombing of the city of dresden. This book was released for the 75th anniversary of the dresden bombing raids of 1945.
Whats the best historynonfiction book on the bombing of. Though checked at the battle of the bulge in the west and with the soviets pressing hard on the eastern front, the third reich continued to mount a stubborn defense. Allied propaganda leaflet dropped en masse on nazi germany. Feb 06, 2004 frederick taylors wellresearched and unpretentious book is a robust defence of the dresden raids that counters recent attempts to recast the nation that gave the world auschwitz as the second. A pile of bodies awaits cremation after the bombing of. A pile of bodies awaits cremation after the firebombing of dresden, february 1945. It also puts the bombing of dresden in context as well as giving a short history of saxony and the city of dresden.
The bombing was controversial because dresdena historic city. The britishamerican bombing of dresden took place between february 15, 1945 during the final months of world war ii. I was expecting more of a war book describing the bombing of dresden, the units involved in the destruction of the city and casualty statistics for both sides. For instance, the 1982 book creatively named, dresden 1945. Beginning on the night of february, 1945, more than 1,200 heavy. Tuesday february 1945, the guardian 7th february, 2004 attempts to treat the bombing of dresden as a war crime perpetrated against the innocent inhabitants of a historical cultural centre of no industrial or military significance began two days after the attack. Dresden had very little industrial activity, and it was a target only once before in a small raid by the us air force in october of 1944. Germany would be forced to surrender three months later. Translated and published around the world, it became a bestseller in many countries. That puzzled me when i tackled the novel as a teenager, because i had read a fair amount about world war ii and had never heard of dresden. Feb 16, 2006 the original book dresden written prior to the mid 1960s told the truth without any revision of history or facts. Bombing of dresden was an attack on the city of dresden, the capital of the german state of saxony, that took place in the final months of the second world war in the european theatre.
The present volume, apocalypse 1945, revises and updates that work on the basis of information which has become available since 1963. The bombing of dresden saw much of the citys great architecture and rich culture destroyed in one night. Marvelously written based on interviews with survivors, previously recorded interviews, and relatively recent historical data. This time hes hired by a priest visiting the city from the vatican to help recover a stolen artefact, which leads to an intriguing and rather complicated plot which im not sure i. Dresden by frederick taylor is a very good book about the devastating bombing of dresden in 1945. It starts off very good, and just gets better from there. Was the firebombing of dresden by the raf a war crime. Oct 22, 2015 according to irisheyz, a poster on the website library thing the dresden files series order. However, one fault of mckees number is that he completed much of his research by interviewing those who were in the city when the. I also highly recommend the book on the natural history of destruction by w. Prequel welcome to the jungle graphic novel book 1. Dresden, a city unaffected by bombing up to that point in the war, lost many thousands of civilians in the firestorm that was created by the allies. The bombing of dresden was a britishamerican aerial bombing attack on the city of dresden. Questions were asked in the house, and private eye ran a cartoon of sir winstonwho still had almost two years to livedestroying dresden in a childish tantrum.
The destruction of dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of allied bombing. The bombing of dresden was a britishamerican aerial bombing attack on the city of dresden, the capital of the german state of saxony, during world war ii. It follows the life and experiences of billy pilgrim, from his early years to his time as an american soldier and chaplains assistant during world war ii, to the postwar years, with billy occasionally traveling through time itself. David irving would claim in his 1963 book, the destruction of dresden, that the bombing was the biggest single massacre in european history. The devils tinderbox, author alexander mckee based his death toll off of a diary entry from a dresden resident which had the final tally at 256,000 dead. In the original book, one pilot reported that while flying at 5,000 feet on a bombing run he saw, because of the fierce burning of dresden, a freight car shoot past his plane. Frederick taylors wellresearched and unpretentious book is a robust defence of the dresden raids that counters recent attempts to recast the. On the night of and 14 february 1945 the raf bombed the city of dresden, causing devastating fires which obliterated the historic city centre and killed many thousands of people. According to irisheyz, a poster on the website library thing the dresden files series order. Vonneguts use of the firebombing of dresden as a central event makes the novel semi.
In just over two days in february 1945, over 1,300 heavy bombers from the raf and the usaaf dropped nearly 4,000 tonnes of explosives on dresdens civilian centre. Germany was clearly on the verge of full collapse, and dresden was unable to defend itself. Over two days and nights in february 1945, american and british bombers dropped 2,400 tons of high explosives and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs on the german city of dresden. The destruction of dresden is a 1963 nonfiction book which describes the february 1945 bombing of dresden in world war ii. It was the capital of saxony, and located along the banks of the elbe river. I survived the bombing of dresden and continue to believe.
Most americans at least, the ones who arent addicted to the history channel know about the bombing of dresden in 1945 from kurt vonneguts. On the evening of february th, 1945, the allies began a devastating series of raids on the medieval german city of dresden. This book challenges what you thought you knew about the wwii allied bombing of dresden and the evolution of the alliess strategic bombing philosophy. Was the allied bombing of dresden a possible war crime. The reader will learn about the bombing but the focus of the book is the morality of the bombing of the city so late in world war ii. The series features harry dresden, a wizardprivate investigator who looks into strange events that occur in chicago. The bombing of dresden was a britishamerican aerial bombing attack on the city of dresden, the capital of the german state of saxony, that took place during the second world war in the european theatre.
The us bombing raid on dresden took place on valentines day. The firebombing of dresden marks the terrible apex of the european bombing war. Till february 1945 the beautiful city was never bombed and for the fugitives a save city. There have been many books on the bombing of dresden not least kurt vonneguts novel, slaughterhouse five, but sinclair mckays. Dresden was bombed on the evening of february th and into february 14th. The dresden files is a series of fantasymystery novels by american novelist jim butcher.
1589 1545 23 600 126 608 1552 165 1198 1600 1508 28 1568 1154 75 1076 593 342 853 526 816 591 191 184 524 995 647 486 1280 888 936 1489 1180 1403