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Title details for Firestorm by Marshall De Bruhl - Available

Firestorm

Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden

by Marshall De Bruhl
Michael Prichard
Audiobook
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On February 13 and 14, 1945, three successive waves of British and U.S. aircraft rained down thousands of tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the largely undefended German city of Dresden. Night and day, Dresden was engulfed in a vast sea of flame, a firestorm that generated 1,500-degree temperatures and hurricane-force winds. Thousands suffocated in underground shelters where they had fled to escape the inferno above. The fierce winds pulled thousands more into the center of the firestorm, where they were incinerated. By the time the fires burned themselves out, many days later, a great city-known as "the Florence on the Elbe"-lay in ruins, and tens of thousands, almost all of them civilians, lay dead.


In Firestorm, Marshall De Bruhl re-creates the drama and horror of the Dresden bombing and offers the most cogent appraisal yet of the tactics, weapons, strategy, and rationale for the controversial attack. Using new research and contemporary reports, as well as eyewitness stories of the devastation, De Bruhl directly addresses many long-unresolved questions relating to the bombing: Why did the strike occur when the Allies' victory was seemingly so imminent? Was choosing a city choked with German refugees a punitive decision, intended to humiliate a nation? What, if any, strategic importance did Dresden have? How much did the desire to send a "message"-to Imperial Japan or the advancing Soviet armies-factor into the decision to firebomb the city?


Beyond De Bruhl's analysis of the moral implications and historical ramifications of the attack, he examines how Nazi and Allied philosophies of airpower evolved prior to Dresden, particularly the shift toward "morale bombing" and the targeting of population centers as a strategic objective. He also profiles the architects and prime movers of strategic bombing and aerial warfare, among them aviation pioneer Billy Mitchell, RAF air marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, and the American commander, General Carl Spaatz.


The passage of time has done nothing to quell the controversy stirred up by the Dresden raid. It has spawned a plethora of books, documentaries, articles, and works of fiction. Firestorm dispels the myths, refutes the arguments, and offers a dispassionate and clear-eyed look at the decisions made and the actions taken throughout the bombing campaign against the cities of the Third Reich-a campaign whose most devastating consequence was the Dresden raid. It is an objective work of history that dares to consider the calculus of war.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 1, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400123346
      • File size: 375316 KB
      • Duration: 13:01:54

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      For hundreds of years Dresden, Germany, was a bastion of civilization and culture. Because it was also the center of an extensive railway system and weapons-production facilities, Allied bombers burned the city near the end of WWII, causing a firestorm of destruction and controversy. Michael Prichard's pleasant and resonant voice leads listeners through a well-researched documentary of flight, politics, and technology. He sometimes uses deft pauses to punctuate the quotes, and at other times a theatrical portrayal of the speaker. Prichard handles the abundant German with ease and the sadness of death with sobering respect. While the book on paper might be dull, Prichard's touch brings a welcome luster. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 9, 2006
      De Bruhl puts his experience as a book editor to good use in this narrative of the still-controversial bombing of Dresden in 1945. Making comprehensive, sophisticated use of archival records and published sources, De Bruhl reminds readers that although Dresden's museums, churches and porcelain factories made it one of Germany's loveliest cities, there was still a war on when Allied bombers targeted the manufacturing and communications center for the Nazi war machine. Recognizing what he calls "the fatal escalation" of the air war against German civilians, De Bruhl also demonstrates the time, effort and blood it cost to establish air superiority over Germany. He establishes the determination of the Third Reich's leaders to continue the war at all costs—a demand the German people accepted. He also examines the often-overlooked V-Weapons campaign mounted against Britain in June 1944, which silenced those Britons who questioned mass bombing of civilians. Certainly neither the British nor the American air forces had any compunction at mounting the raid De Bruhl describes as "theory put into flawless practice." When the last bombers left, Dresden was no longer a major producer of armaments. In a war begun by Germany, that was—and is—the bottom line.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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