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Dresden: Tuesday, 13 February 1945
 
 

Dresden: Tuesday, 13 February 1945 (Hardcover)

by Fred Taylor (Author), Bill Swainson (Editor)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2 Feb 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747570787
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747570783
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.4 x 5.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 511,666 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Allan Mallison, The Times

'Taylor weaves a chilling narrative from eyewitness accounts and...documentary research...His account of the air operation...is quite superb.'


Roger Hutchinson, Scotsman

'Taylor's magnificent...study...surely as close as the English language will get to a definitive, balanced examination of the subject.'

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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 (6)
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable history of the bombing of Dresden in 1945, 15 Feb 2004
This book is a detailed account of the bombing of Dresden by the RAF and the USAAF on February 13-14th 1945. The attack, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians, has been regarded by many people as the most shameful episode in the Allied prosecution of the war. Others argue that the bombing was justified by the city's critical position close to the eastern front and because of the many Dresden based arms manufacturers. Interviews with survivors of the bombing and the bomber crews themselves are used to create a vivid picture of the events before, during and after the bombing. This book has the same quality as Antony Bevor's brilliant histories "Stalingrad" and "Berlin" and is a valuable re-assessment of one of the most controversial events of World War 2.
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40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The sleep of reason brings fourth monsters, 11 April 2004
This is a quote from the concluding chapter of Frederick Taylor's excellent, well researched and highly readable account of the events leading upto, the execution of, and the aftermath of the allied bombing raid on Dresden of 13 and 14 February 1945.

Like Taylor, much of my knowledge of the Dresden raid stemmed from Kurt Vonnegut's semi-autobiographical novel "Slaughter House 5", based on his experience of the Dresden raid as an American prisoner of war there. In the introduction to Vonnegut's novel he recounts how for many years he would tell people that he was working on a big book, perhaps multiple volumes, on what happened in Dresden in those twentyfour hours, but nothing ever came. For Vonnegut, he ultimately found that there was "nothing intelligent to say about a massacre" and that the only things left alive were the birds, and all they would say was "po-to-weet".

Vonnegut had experienced the horror of the raid first hand, and his account remains a powerful, intelligent, if subjective testimony to the horror of Dresden, but Vonnegut was not a historian, and it was left to historians to create a more whole picture of the raid from razor fragments such as Vonneguts, and the cutting and blunt papers of the archives, of course.

Considering the events cultural importance on the European consciousness, as the icon of airborne slaughter in the European war, it is surprising that so little has been published on it. David Irving's 'The Destruction of Dresden' was an important book but was undermined by the authors alleged neo-nazi connections and the subsequet absence of a mass market reprint.

Taylor's book fills this void admirably, bringing together a narrative of the European bomber war with archive and eye-wittness accounts of the Dresden raid itself, and the place that the raid assumed in post-war consciousness. If there is one dissapoitment I would say it is the sparcity of interviews with surviving bomber crews, though this is perhaps inevitable since the passage of time and a half century of implicit blame have hardened the attitudes of airmen who dropped their bombs from an inevitably impersonal altitude.

This book is not a polemic, that is it does not attempt to exonerate the allies, bomber command or key figures like Arthur Harris or Winston Churchill, but neither does it narrate Dresden as the senseless victim of excess in an otherwise just war. Instead Taylor allows a balanced re-telling of the facts to speak for themselves. Myths are debunked in this process, particularly regarding the astronomical casuality figures circulated as propoganda against the allies, but despite this a strong Clauswitzian message booms through the memoirs and data - that war, once unleashed, spirals out of control and will ultimately serve itself, it moves toward an all consuming totality. "Total war".

When Taylor refers to "the sleep of reason" he is referring to the failure of Europe, and by extension humanity, to remain rational, to think through the consequences of its emotions and ambitions, rather than applying such irrational prejudice into policy.

As another war spins into a vortex of self serving violence, it would appear that we have learned very little in the intervening sixty years.

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25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Dresden 1945: hell on Elbe, 10 Feb 2005
By R. Skinner (Bucks, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The destruction of Dresden has come to symbolise the horror of war. A beautiful city laid to waste, with tens of thousands dead, in less than 24 hours. Frederick Taylor's book recreates life in Dresden in the months and years leading up to February 1945. His approach is admirably even-handed: most readers will finish the book mourning the loss of the city and its people rather than taking sides in a pointless debate about whether the raids could be justified. Many will want to visit Dresden to see how the city has risen from the ashes while reflecting on the horror of war.

Just one small criticism: the American spellings used in the book are very distracting. It comes as a surprise to read in a British book that the 'Labor' party won the 1945 British general election, and to learn of people 'immigrating' to the USA.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, judicious summary of a smoke and mirrors subject
This book has been written with more than half an eye on the American market (the use of "gotten" is very prevalent and extremely irritating) but gives an excellent survey of all... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Nicholas Brett

4.0 out of 5 stars A moving book
Towards the end of the war, the might of Bomber Command "unleashed hell" in the form of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the beautiful city of Dresden. Read more
Published 17 months ago by tallpete33

4.0 out of 5 stars exposing Nazi & Communist propaganda
The best thing about this book is the way it shows how the bombing of Dresden has been exploited for propaganda purposes - first of course by Goebbels, then by Communist East... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2007 by DavidB

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate History
For someone who had family members in Dresden living through that dreadful night of the 13th this book has provided ample and compassionate background to fill some gaps. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2007 by Antyllus

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible, meticulous, evocative and informative.
This is how history should be written. Taylor is unafraid to point out that the life blood of much history, i.e peoples' memories, is often flawed and unreliable. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2007 by Mr. S. Black

4.0 out of 5 stars countering the revisionists
The trouble with history is that it is always written retrospectively - we think we know the outcome - rather than from the point of view of those who took the decisions to do... Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2007 by N. Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, Readable and Illuminating
This is how I like my history: intensely readable, balanced and thoughtful, Taylor excels himself in writing about this controversial subject. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2006 by Jonathan Posner

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good study
I was very impressed by this book and the author's detailed study of a controversial event. I think he makes good case for bombing while pointing out just as clearly the horrific... Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2006 by Seasideman

1.0 out of 5 stars Lawyerish apologism
This work is respectable piece of scholarship in its devotion to presend a comprehensive history of Dresden and a minutely detailed study of the tragedy itself. Read more
Published on 28 April 2006 by Gordon Cole

4.0 out of 5 stars Review
On the morning of the 13th February the city of Dresden remained the jewel of the German east, the Elbflorenz or Florence on the Elbe. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2005 by Ian David Curry

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