Dresden 1945: The Devil's Tinderbox

In this compelling narrative, Alexander McKee examines motive, morality, and responsibility in the horrible Allied raid on Dresden, Germany. Undefended and without strategic significance, this historic city sheltered a million people, half of them refugees. On Feb. 13-15, 1945, 1,300 British & American aircrafts dropped 5000 tons of incendiary and high-explosive bombs, destroying Dresden and causing a 3000F firestorm. Between 35,000 & 100,000 people died, among them American, British, & Russian prisoners of war. Survivors' accounts capture the hope and courage that transcended the horror of the raid. In analyzing the rationale & planning behind the raid, McKee dissects the leadership egos, command rivalries, & hidden agendas that insidiously promoted terror bombing as a British policy - a policy later shared by her American ally. And in demonstrating that the Dresden raid's permanent moral cost greatly exceeded its temporary military benefits, he gives contemporary military strategists powerful reasons for restraint.