"We must make war as we must, not as we would like," observed the great British general Lord Kitchener after witnessing the carnage of World War I. Former Royal Marines commando Robin Neillands concurs in this often grim account of a bombing campaign that devastated much of continental Europe in the cause of destroying Nazism. In this history of the Allied air war over Europe, Neillands maintains that the use of bombers as strategic weapons aimed at the enemy's ability to wage war--as opposed to purely tactical weapons aimed at enemy troops--necessarily involved the loss of civilian life and the destruction of nonmilitary targets, however unintentional. One such target was Dresden, a once-beautiful city that, some historians have protested, had no strategic importance and merely served as an example of what would happen to the rest of Germany should the fighting continue. Those historians are off the mark, Neillands counters: Dresden produced essential war materiel, such as military aircraft engines, shell fuses, and cigarettes ("a vital product for maintaining wartime morale"), and thus it was a legitimate target. So, he continues, were cities such as Berlin, Ludwigshafen, and Hamburg, the last the site of a firestorm that killed some 46,000 civilians. Their deaths were unfortunate, Neillands suggests, but necessary in ending Hitler's regime and in inaugurating an era in which total war is unthinkable.
Neillands rightly observes that most histories of the Allied air war in Europe present either the English or the American side, and he does a good job of weaving both accounts, drawing on official histories and the memories of veterans (including some German fliers) alike. More detailed and technically inclined than recent work by Stephen Ambrose and other popular writers on World War II, his book makes a useful addition to the historical literature. --Gregory McNamee
From Library Journal
Raining terror from the sky is a 20th-century invention. Beginning in World War I and peaking with the bombings of Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki in World War II, Neillands has provided a remarkably able synthesis of the extensive literature relating to the topic of bomber warfare. His command of the sources is impressive, which should be no surprise since he has written extensively on various topics in military history, (see, e.g., The Conquest of the Reich: D-Day to VE-Day). Neillands grapples with the moral issues surrounding the bombing of cities during World War II. He defends the now-controversial actions of British Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, who since the war has been roundly criticized for bombing civilian areas of German cities, in the February 1945 Dresden fire bombing. Neillands argues that war erodes humanity and that to defeat the Germans (who bombed London and other British cities), the Allies found it necessary to destroy German population centers associated with war production. Moralists can continue to argue the matter, but it would seem that the air war contributed significantly to the eventual demise of the Reich. Recommended for all collections. Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Neillands on the strategic air war against Germany is a valuable addition to World War II historiography, chronologically straightforward and admirably bias-free. Adducing substantial evidence, the book reaffirms the conclusion that strategic bombing didn't become effective until 1943, when men and machines were available to do major damage. The overall effort suffered from diverting resources to support the invasion of Europe, conservative tactics that did not exploit all the new technologies, and faulty target priorities, yet still loomed large in the Allied victory. Neillands balances British and American contributions, suggesting that Britain's much-maligned Bomber Command may have been more technically innovative than the U.S. Eighth Air Force, and he assesses Bomber Command chief Sir Arthur Harris about as well as he ever will be assessed. Further, the many anecdotes he provides are well chosen. Highly recommended, not least as a cogent counterargument to trendy demonizations of the strategic air war and its participants, most of whom are no longer alive to defend themselves. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Neillands's accessible book explores the issues and much else . . . his experience is obvious in this book which provides comprehensive coverage of the offensive." (Times Literary Supplement)
About the Author
Robin Neillands is a former Royal Marines Commando, is a journalist and writer. He has written several acclaimed books on World War II and military history, among them The Conquest of the Reich: D-Day to VE-Day, In the Combat Zone: Special Forces Since 1945, and The Hundred Years War. He lectures at the National Army Museum in London and is a member of the British Commission for Military History.
