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A good read and important for people to know the truth 2010-05-24

Reviewer: M. Mayo

I found Taylor's book to be well written and researched. Not only does he tell the tale of the attack, he gives a detailed history about the famed city. While it's certainly regrettable that treasured cities like Dresden were destroyed it's important to view the attack within the era in which it was done. It's targeting along with every other target is justified when viewed in context of the time. Total War is just that. All resources for all parties are injected in to war making. Dresden was no different. All inhabitants in Germany contributed to the rise of Hitler and his henchmen and are subject to the horrors that comes with "Total War". The bombing of Dresden is as legitimate to the allies as the bombing of Pearl Harbor was to the Japanese. In 1945 there were no "smart weapons", no laser guided munitions. Viewing the attack 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years later it's difficult for some to understand the mindset of individuals living the reality of total war in 1945.

Is it any surprise that the communists exploited the attack for their own purposes? Certainly not. Revisionist history is in fact part of history itself. I think Taylor does an excellent job showing both sides of the story leading up to and well after the attack.

Wish I could 2008-12-13

Reviewer: R. Harned

I wish I could review Dresden, a book I ordered Nov 10, 2008. However, It is December 13, 2008 and I haven't received the book. I had intended to read Dresden for a book club meeting December 12. I don't need the book anymore so keep it and send me my money back. When I contact the vendor I get linked to Amazon. The link on Amazon takes me back to the vendor. Great system unless your goal is customer service.

Decent Review Of History 2008-03-09

Reviewer: Mike from N.H.

Makes an interesting read because there is so much controversy about the bombing, i.e. was it necessary etc.

Regardless where your opinion falls, it is necessary to confront one undeniable fact - at the end of the Second World War the German people were so badly beaten that they had utterly no will to resist at all, despite German efforts to set up roaming bands of insurgents (the "werewolves," etc.). Alfons Heck's memoir is instructive in this regard, how small acts of resistance on the part of individual German units were met with overwhelming and vastly lopsided force, and how demoralizing this was to the average German. I believe this is what William F. Buckley meant when he said regarding the current war in Iraq, that the only means available to defeat the insurgency involves measures that we will not consent to use.

Think about that. Was the bombing of Dresden horrible? Sure it was. Were civilians the target? You bet they were, in part.

But was that a war worth winning by any means necessary? I defy you to watch Shoah and then try answering "no."

The bottom line is that the Germans picked a fight, acted like a nation of serial killers and then were treated in kind. That sums it up pretty well I think.

But yeah, the book is a good read.

The Raid That Went Horribly Right 2007-05-09

Reviewer: E. E Pofahl

" .... much of what has been thought and said about Dresden since its destruction (February 13, 1945) owes a great deal to the efforts first of the Nazi and then Communist propagandists." In this book, author Frederick Taylor attempts to present the known facts of the Dresden raid in the context of the date of the raid. He notes that while Dresden didn't deserved to be destroyed, by the standards of the time it was "....a legitimate military target."

The first four chapters outline Dresden's history from the thirteenth century to the twentieth century. A historic and magnificent city, Dresden was known as "Florence on the Elbe." The Nazi regime took power in 1933. The text gives an excellent, brief outline of life under the Nazi. British Bomber Command was ill prepared to begin offensive operations following the 1939 German invasion of Poland and suffered heavy losses. The Luftwaffe's November 14, 1940 raid on Coventry resulted in 568 civilian deaths. Amazingly, this raid showed that area incendiary bombing destroying infrastructure had lasted far longer and caused long-term difficulties for war production than the actual bombing of the industrial plants."..."From September 1940 to March 1941 the Luftwaffe launched raids on Britain killing more than forty thousand civilians. These Luftwaffe raids became the model for British strategy. Commander of Bomber Command Arthur Harris noted "It would have taken Bomber command much longer to learn how to attack Germany if it had not been for the lessons of the German attack on Britain."

Taylor covers the history of aerial bombardment and outlines the allied WWII strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Most interesting is the text's explanation of the strategic value of Dresden. Dresden had the big Zeuss-Ikon complex employing over ten-thousand workers on war contracts, the city also contained 127 critical factories and it was a strategic rail center. At the beginning of the war, Dresden was considered beyond the RAF's range and was thought immune to air raids. The text devotes five chapters to describe the actual February 13, 1945 bombing of the city by the British and American forces. Mixing with the text narratives, first-person accounts of the air crews and those of the German soldiers and civilians, the book paints a gruesome picture of the hell in Dresden during and after the raid. Except for minor variances, the raid went horribly right operationally! German propaganda proclaimed a distorted casualty figure of 250,000 for Dresden as opposed to the actual number killed of approximately 25,000. When the communist overran Dresden they continued to proclaim the erroneous casualty figures.

The closing text is devoted to the post war discussions and moral questions of the city's fate. The author notes that "The macabre argument over the death toll at Dresden still continues." Taylor continues that "The fact that one of Europe's finest cities was almost entirely destroyed--while much, though by no means all, of what made it a legitimate target for bombing survived--can be criticized and condemned."

While countless works have been published on the bombing of Dresden, Taylor uses several German and Allied sources to write an account in English that both the historian and history buff will find informative and interesting.

Dresden Denial. 2007-02-13

Reviewer: Paul Forster

This book demonstrates that the British are still having trouble confronting their guilt over England's WWII attrocities.Fortunately for Mr.Taylor Dresden denial won't get him thrown in prison like holocaust denial will in most of the world.In this book Taylor tries to explain away and excuse one of WWII's greatest crimes,the burning to death of 50,000+ civilians in the city of Dresden in Feb. 1945.It's a rather pathetic effort that pretty much comes down to nothing more than a horrifying "they deserved it".It is sad and frightening that there are still people out there who deny the reality of such attrocities.What is their purpose?Is it nothing more than simple Germanophobia or is it a sinister effort to rehabilitate the reputations of Arthur Harris and Winston Churchill? As frightening as this kind of hate literature is, I am sure few intelligent people will be fooled by it's absurd assertions and that in the near future the British people will finaly learn to accept and deal with their guilt and learn from the past so these terrible crimes will never be repeated.