Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Quick and Easy Sign Up!

It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.

Sign Up Browse

Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

  • Download on iOS
  • Download on Android
  • Download on iOS

Dresden, 1945: The Devil's Tinderbox (Alexander McKee Presents: Key Engagements in World War II)

Alexander McKee
3.95/5 (111 ratings)
Read Now Download Now
The eye-opening definitive account of the horrific fire-bombing of the undefended city of Dresden.

This history of one of the most controversial events of the Second World War should be an essential book for readers who wish to learn the true story behind Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.

Prior to World War Two, Dresden had an international reputation a beautiful cultural centre, filled with architectural masterworks. Yet on 13th February 1945 the RAF and USAAF began an ‘all out’ attack on the city. On this night and the following two nights, 1,300 British and American aircraft dropped 5,000 tons of incendiary and high-explosive bombs. The total number of resident women and children, refugees, and prisoners-of-war in transit who died will never be known, but it is likely that the official figures of between 35,000 to 45,000 were vastly understated.

The strategic reasons for bombing Dresden were limited and by February 1945 it was becoming increasingly clear that the Allies would win the war. So, who are the men responsible for this horrific event, and what justifications did they make for ordering it?

Alexander McKee, the renowned historian, saw first-hand the results of the Allied bombing of the ‘friendly’ French towns of Caen and Lisieux, as well as the destruction of enemy-held Emmerich and Arnhem, while serving with the 1st Canadian Army. Haunted by these scenes as well as the sheer barbarity of the Dresden raid, McKee interviewed survivors of the attack and the Allied airmen who flew in the raids, to provide a personal view of this atrocity, which is supported by a thorough examination of the official records.

‘A salutary reminder of the excesses to which democracies, too, may be prone under the pressures of war’ The Observer

‘a compelling account of the destruction of Dresden.’ The Journal of Historical Review

‘A worthy attempt to "bring out the terrible truth" about the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden at the close of World War II — widely condemned at the time and made indelible in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. … [How] the author interweaves myriad individual stories and the extensive eyewitness testimony is potent.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘McKee's book is rigorously fair-minded and does not take the easy option of moral denunciation of the Allies, who were divided among themselves and still had a war to fight.’ The Irish Times
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
ISBN10:
1800559887
ISBN13:
9781800559882
kindle Asin:
B0D3CVF4M1

Dresden, 1945: The Devil's Tinderbox (Alexander McKee Presents: Key Engagements in World War II)

Alexander McKee
3.95/5 (111 ratings)
Read Download
The eye-opening definitive account of the horrific fire-bombing of the undefended city of Dresden.

This history of one of the most controversial events of the Second World War should be an essential book for readers who wish to learn the true story behind Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.

Prior to World War Two, Dresden had an international reputation a beautiful cultural centre, filled with architectural masterworks. Yet on 13th February 1945 the RAF and USAAF began an ‘all out’ attack on the city. On this night and the following two nights, 1,300 British and American aircraft dropped 5,000 tons of incendiary and high-explosive bombs. The total number of resident women and children, refugees, and prisoners-of-war in transit who died will never be known, but it is likely that the official figures of between 35,000 to 45,000 were vastly understated.

The strategic reasons for bombing Dresden were limited and by February 1945 it was becoming increasingly clear that the Allies would win the war. So, who are the men responsible for this horrific event, and what justifications did they make for ordering it?

Alexander McKee, the renowned historian, saw first-hand the results of the Allied bombing of the ‘friendly’ French towns of Caen and Lisieux, as well as the destruction of enemy-held Emmerich and Arnhem, while serving with the 1st Canadian Army. Haunted by these scenes as well as the sheer barbarity of the Dresden raid, McKee interviewed survivors of the attack and the Allied airmen who flew in the raids, to provide a personal view of this atrocity, which is supported by a thorough examination of the official records.

‘A salutary reminder of the excesses to which democracies, too, may be prone under the pressures of war’ The Observer

‘a compelling account of the destruction of Dresden.’ The Journal of Historical Review

‘A worthy attempt to "bring out the terrible truth" about the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden at the close of World War II — widely condemned at the time and made indelible in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. … [How] the author interweaves myriad individual stories and the extensive eyewitness testimony is potent.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘McKee's book is rigorously fair-minded and does not take the easy option of moral denunciation of the Allies, who were divided among themselves and still had a war to fight.’ The Irish Times
Format:
Pages:
pages
Publication:
Publisher:
Edition:
Language:
ISBN10:
1800559887
ISBN13:
9781800559882
kindle Asin:
B0D3CVF4M1

More Books

Beyond Mach 3: A Pilot’s Journey Through The U-2 and SR-71 (1950 to 1970) A Memoir

Buddy Brown

In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies

Howard Blum

The Seven Men of Spandau: The Last of the Hitler Gang (Hitler's Henchmen)

Jack Fishman

INSIDE NUREMBERG PRISON the compelling story of the only German-Jewish translator to work in Nuremberg Prison (Helen Fry’s World War Two True Stories)

Helen Fry

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: Operation Jericho and the Raid That Saved D-Day (Daring Military Operations of World War Two)

Jack Fishman

Gehlen: Germany's Master Spy

Charles Whiting

SEVEN DAYS OF INFAMY accounts of Pearl Harbor from those who watched it unfold (Nicholas Best World War II History)

Nicholas Best

The Battle for the Pacific (Captain Macintyre's Naval History of WWII Book 2)

Donald Macintyre

The Battle for Germany: September 1944–May 1945 (The Final Months of War)

H. Essame

The Search for 'Gestapo' Müller: The Man Without a Shadow (Hitler's Henchmen)

Charles Whiting

80 Percent Luck, 20 Percent Skill: My Life as a WWII Navy Ferry Pilot

Ralph Alshouse

Finale at Flensburg: The Story Of Field Marshal Montgomery's Battle For The Baltic (Forgotten Aspects of World War Two)

Charles Whiting