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In this first interdisciplinary study of this contentious subject, leading experts in politics, history, and philosophy examine the complex aspects of the terror bombing of German cities during World War II. The contributors address the decision to embark on the bombing campaign, the moral issues raised by the bombing, and the main stages of the campaign and its effects on German civilians as well as on Germany’s war effort. The book places the bombing campaign within the context of the history of air warfare, presenting the bombing as the first stage of the particular type of state terrorism that led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought about the Cold War era “balance of terror.” In doing so, it makes an important contribution to current debates about terrorism. It also analyzes the public debate in Germany about the historical, moral, and political significance of the deliberate killing of up to 600,000 German civilians by the British and American air forces. This pioneering collaboration provides a platform for a wide range of views—some of which are controversial—on a highly topical, painful, and morally challenging subject.
“Terror from the Sky raises a number of interesting questions about the often overlooked practical and moral implications of the Allied bombing of Germany. It draws our attention to the morally contentious aspects of the campaign and explains why this subject has received so little attention up until now.” · English Historical Review
“This is an interesting, informative, and important work. Overall, the quality of the essays is very high, and the focus of the book is on a topic of great importance.” · Stephen Nathanson, Northeastern University
Contributors
Introduction
Igor Primoratz
Part I: The bombing
Chapter 1. The bombing campaign: the RAF
Stephen A. Garrett
Chapter 2. The bombing campaign: the USAAF
Douglas Lackey
Chapter 3. Under the bombs
Earl R. Beck
Chapter 4. Firestorm
Martin Middlebrook
Part II: The moral issues
Chapter 5. Can the bombing be morally justified?
Igor Primoratz
Chapter 6. Four types of mass murderer: Stalin, Hitler, Churchill, Truman
Douglas Lackey
Chapter 7. Was it genocidal?
Eric Markusen and David Kopf
Part III: The debates
Chapter 8. The British debate
Mark Connelly
Chapter 9. The German debate
Lothar Kettenacker
Index