Rating: 
Summary: Well Written Historical Record
Review: "Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945" by Frederick Taylor, Harper Collins, New York, 2004.
Despite the title including the famous (infamous) date of the bombing of Dresden, this book deals with so much more than just that raid. The author begins with a chapter, "Saxons", tracing the common roots of the present day peoples of both Britain and Saxony. Remember, historically, the "Anglo-Saxons" displaced the Celtic peoples who inhabited England. In the next four chapters, Frederick Taylor develops Dresden's history, from a swampy frontier settlement to the "Florence on the Elbe". Then, the author devotes at least three chapters to the impact of National socialism on Dresden, including a chapter irreverently entitled , "The Saxon Mussolini".
Then, the heart of the book may be found in the chapters in which Taylor addresses the air war in general, its morality and its effectiveness. I wish that I had this book for course on World War II that I took while working on an MA in History. We spent a quite a few class sessions dealing with the effectiveness of Air Power, and whether or not Sea Power or the Infantry won the war. Taylor's book presents new insights into the methods employed to measure Air Power's effectiveness. (or ineffectiveness, if you care to take the other point of view).
There are chapters dealing with the actual horrors of the actual raid. The author brings into print an examination of how the German people felt as they realized they had survived the night raid by the RAF but were then attacked by the day raid of USAAF. Obviously, the author's ability in the German language helped him to present a more human side of the event.
In the last few chapters, Taylor shows how the Soviets used the bombing raid as propaganda during the Cold War; the enormous number of causalities, quoted by the Third Reich, were cast in concrete by the Soviets. Even in death, the people were being used by tyrannical masters.
In the chapter entitled, "The Sleep Of Reason", on page 411, the author states, "It is rarely mentioned that almost exactly the same number of Soviet citizens died as a result of bombing during the Second World War as Germans: around half a million". Then he recounts the Luftwaffe's "..."thousand-bomber raid" ...on Stalingrad. From an engineering point of view, i.e. form, fit and function, it appears the German air force, the Luftwaffe, was able to perform as well as the combined forces of the RAF and the USAAF. Although the German Dorniers and Heinkels may not have been as excellent a bomber as were the British Lancasters and the American Liberators,
the Luftwaffe, by Taylor's own accounting, killed as many people as did the Allies. Form, fit and function means that although the designs were different the end results were the same. Perhaps the author would like to expand on book on the bombing of Dresden to a volume on the bombing campaigns of the Luftwaffe?
Rating: 
Summary: Finally a balanced account
Review: After many years of distortion and propaganda regarding the bombing of Dresden this book finally begins with a clean slate and draws accurate conclusions. Dresden was a German city destroyed in an epic bombing that caused untold destruction. For many years, due to lack of access to East German archives the results and history of the Dresden bombing were not only clouded in mystery but were actively falsified by nazi sympathizers to make people 'feel sorry' for what took place.This book paints a new picture. Explaining not only the truth about Dresden's military significance but also shedding light on the terrors and suppression by the Nazis of minorities and others in Dresden, thus taking away the veneer of sympathy that in the past has been given to the so-called civilians affected in the bombing. A wonderful account and a must read on WWII. Seth J. Frantzman
Rating:
Summary: An unbiased account
Review: Dresden is the first book that tells of its destruction in detail (and its consequences) more from the perspective of the Dresdeners by the RAF Bomber Command and USAF Eighth Air Force during the closing stages of World War II. Powerfully told, Frederick Taylor unearths a myriad of first-hand accounts from his painstaking research and weaves a narrative that both destroys many of the myths of that grew up from the firestorm, primarily from propaganda, but raises several questions. Was it a legitimate target? Could the wholesale obliteration of the city center have been avoided? The British knew of the firestorm potential from its study of the destruction of Coventry in 1940, and the 1943 raid on Hamburg. Yet, Dresden remained a charmed, cultural city, devoid of military potential. Taylor shows us this was not entirely accurate-it was both a vital communications center, especially in the latter stages of the war as the Russian approached on the eastern front, and that increasingly it was a specialized industrial and armaments location. It also becomes painfully clear that unlike many other German cities, protection from air raids was sadly neglected. Some people have maintained that the Dresden firebombing was unique, but from reading the book I gathered it was not. Rather it was a case of things going "horribly right" instead of horribly wrong, as was the instance with many large-scale "city-busting" operations. Indeed, Dresden was not, perhaps the worst example of area bombing. Proportionally, the destruction of Pforzheim, which came later, was worse. Ignore the first few chapters (unless you're a fan of more ancient history), and start with chapter 4. You will gradually become absorbed in the background of events leading up to the evening of February 13, 1945. The accounts of the bombing and the fire are riveting: I was unable to put the book down and lost half a night's sleep to find out the conclusion. And when you finish the book, you might feel like I did, saddened by the atrocity of war, appalled by this Sodom and Gomorrah-like carnage. It almost made me feel shamed to be a member of the human race. In our current war with Iraq, we would do well to remember what's it like to be at the receiving end of "shock and awe," that the overwhelming number of casualties are not the enemy, but innocent civilians caught up under circumstances in which they have no control.
Rating:
Summary: Dante's Inferno in Saxony
Review: Except for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I think what happened to Dresden on February 13 and 14, 1945 comes as about as close as possible to a vision of hell on earth. My opinion is that this book is a deeply moving piece of scholarship that clears away the myths surrounding the doom that came to the "Florence on the Elbe" at the end of World War II. Yet it does so without diminishing one bit the horror of it all. The book's best parts are the chapters dealing with the firestorm that swept through the city. However, the sections that address the history of "area bombing" and the "science" of burning a city are also highly informative. My only criticism is that on page 171, the author makes no less than three factual errors about the 1944-45 Ardennes Campaign: 1. Sepp Dietrich did not command the "SS Panzer Division." He commanded the "Sixth SS Panzer Army" (consisting of a mix of SS units and Volksgrenadier divisions). 2. Hasso Von Manteuffel did not command the "Fifth Panzer Division." He was the commander of the "Fifth Panzer Army." 3. General Patton did not rescue the "First Airborne Division at Bastogne." He relieved the "101st Airborne Division." This error is particularly surprising since the author makes a correct reference to that fact on the same page. Now, I want to close with a few words about revisionist reviews like the one that I've seen here which gave the book one star. The Germans and Japanese (with Italy in a supporting role) started a war of unprecedented viciousness which killed tens of millions of people. As the author points out, it is laughable for revisionists to condemn the Allies for fighting back with everything at their disposal. Some of the things that were done to Germany and Japan were wrong or excessive and caused considerable loss of innocent life. Yet they shrink into relative insignificance compared to the deliberate, "stare in your victims' faces when you kill them" genocide that the Germans and Japanese perpetrated. This being said, I weep for the people incinerated in Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and many other places. However, I feel much more pity for the entirely innocent victims of Auschwitz, Belsen, Treblinka, Nanking, and scores of other places where Germans and Japanese dishonored their nations by stooping into previously uncharted depths of evil. No one deserves the terrible fates that many German and Japanese cities endured. The deaths of individual Germans and Japanese are tragedies. But on a grand scale, what happened to those two countries is a classic example of sowing the seeds and reaping a whirlwind of destruction. After what those two nations did to the rest of the world, they had it coming. So I don't regard Dresden as a sin or mistake. It was one of terrible necessities of war, which advances in technology have made obsolete.
Rating: 
Summary: One more harrowing account of the Dresden massacre...
Review: For the historically initiated the bombing of Dresden very late in WWII has never ceased to provide for immense controversy and debate as well as several books on the subject. Frederick Taylor's book is the latest attempt to set the record straight and examine once more the main point of the everlasting discussion about the Dresden bombardment:
was it "justified", did it really help in ending the war or shorten it to a respectable degree and how many people actually perished in the city ruins?
Strictly militarily speaking this can be, at least for some, a difficult question to answer. Noone can really speak in accurate terms about how much it actually did shorten the war. Those that advocate this point assess that the Germans had resorted to recruiting 1000s of under-18 "soldiers" in a desperate attempt to hold out. This alone, they insist could've prolonged the war for several more months if not longer and only a devastating blow directly aimed at the morale of the German population could've avoided this. Others claim that the allies had no way of knowing the real level of resistance the german army still had in its last gasp attempts to defend Germany.
Several historians however agree that the allies had enough intelligence to know that the end was a matter of time. Of very short time at that. The Russians were on the outskirts of Berlin and advancing steadily. The German army had suffered a devestating defeat in the West thus losing its last hope of delivering a big blow to the allied forces advancing from that direction. The German airforce was basically inexistent at that point. Same, to an extent, can be safely claimed of their navy.
Taylor, approaches the Dresden issue by giving the reader a comprehensive backround of the city, its history and its role culturally as well as militarily for Germany. In equal detail he informs the reader about the course of the war up until that point as well as the policies of the Nazi party in regard to recruiting all possible resources in order to win the war. He does an exceptional job outlining the history of air-warfare starting much further back until he reaches the mid 40s when that type of warfare became more sophisticated and therefore more devastating to human life.
Dresden became a horror story of tremendous loss of life in Dante-like conditions and indiscriminate destruction of a city which was considered a gem of architecture and culture. It was not the first destruction of its kind but possibly the most emphatic. Hamburg, Essen and Cologne had preceeded it among other cities.
For those not familiar with what the people of Dresden went through in a range of 3 days the bombing lasted this book will be a jaw-dropping read. Thousands of tons of incindiary as well as explosive bombs were dropped by 100s of planes in a well devised manner everywhere in the city. The inhabitants tried to find shelter in the very inadequate shelters of the city only to be either crushed under collapsing buildings or burned alive in well planned fire-storms.
The issue remains, even with this book hitting the store-shelves, how many people actually lost their lives during the 3 day ordeal. While other historians have claimed that the number actually surpassed 100.000 Frederick Taylor puts it somewhere between 25.000-30.000. The fact that the overwhelming majority of them were civilians (countless children amongst them) is of course undoubtable.
It seems that Taylor's assessments are not very convincing
even if he goes to great lengths registering accounts from both sides. The only way one can reach a conclusion of his own is reading what other authors have to say on the subject and what sources and accounts they use for their claims. By doing that one finds that Taylor might actually be understating what actually happened, or, in any event, underestimated the results of Dresden's incredible destruction.
If however, this is not the outstanding point to you, Taylor's book will simply overwhelm you. The dimensions of horror that will jump at you from the pages of this book are beyond imagination. It really comes down to questioning human intelligence and the limits our brutality can reach in achieving goals. In that respect, main issue aside, this is a book you need to read.
Rating:
Summary: Finally the Facts on the bomber war against the Nazis
Review: Having done lot's of work for POW organisations (and with people who directly experienced the attacks on Dresden) I am delighted to finaly find a book about the facts about the bombings.
It dispells the "so called" historians myths like Friedrich and Irving who like to claim that Dresden was just filled with innocents being busy on arts before the 8th airforce came along. Those POW's knew as they were working in the "non existing" war factories.
Frederick Taylor does not only refer to US transcripts, but also to German writers as a source in proving how these false myths came to be a political weapon by various forces and how sadly these myths are still used by the brownshirts.
Some writers complained about the start with ancient history of Dresden and the ending at present time. However this does help the reader greatly understand WHY and HOW the views and myths came into place.
Frederick Taylor doesn't shy away from describing the hardship of the unfortenate ones caught in the bombing but also the "lucky one's" like the jews that were saved from a one way trip to aushwitz thanks to the bombing. Their story is finally told.
All in all a definive history book on the bombings!
Rating: 
Summary: snore-fest, waste of time & money
Review: I am in the (arduous) process of reading this book...I may end up putting it down for a bit (forever?) or skipping ahead...it is a tough read for me and I love to read! The Book is titled "Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945", so one would think that the majority of the book would be about that day or the direct aftermath...well, I am almost 1/2 way through the book and it is now in 1943. My area of interest is the air campaign in WWII from both sides of the fence. So far anything WWII related in the book, he at least gives the illusion of being unbiased although barely. You can tell there is the old pro-Allied bias that has been what 90% of the books we've read in the past 60 years have been. I get the impression as I read like this; the British did bomb German cities, killing women and children, creating & perfecting firestorms, but it was only because the evil German's did "X". If I wanted to read about Saxon history, I would buy a book on that topic. If I wanted a book on German treatment (mistreatment) of Jews, yes also in this book, I would buy one of those many titles. I wanted a book about the bombing of Dresden...so far after 200+ pages I am still about 18 months away (in the book). I also do not think he documents his source material well. He supplies a bibliography but it is just chapter notes. You do not know if you are reading his opinion or something he actually has data to back up his claims. If you want a fair account of the bombing campaign in WWII, I cannot recommend highly enough Hermann Knell's "To Destroy a City". Read this book and it'll give you a gauge on what "Fair & impartial" is all about. He tells the story where both sides actually look as guilty as the other (if the case warrants it). Two thumbs WAY up. Very well documented! Save your money on the Frederick Taylor attempt at Dresden...wait until it's on the discount rack or yard sale...then you will not feel as if you over- paid for what it is (as I do).
Rating: 
Summary: Balance this with other books on Dresden
Review: I am very interested in the bombing of Dresden and have read many books about it. I liked that Mr. Taylor putting the bombing in the perspective by looking at it against all the Nazi bombings and destruction. BUT after reading the entire book I do not think he makes a clear case for Dresden being an over hyped propaganda that showed Nazi as victims. The book's underlying theme seems to be that the German victims deserved their fate. Mr. Taylor needs to remember that innocent children also burned in these firestorms. After reading this book the questions remains "Why was Dresden chosen as a target?" It seems to bother Mr. Taylor that when one hears the word "Dresden" one often thinks of the senselessness of war. That to me is the one positive outcome of the bombing.
Rating:
Summary: Superb and courageous history
Review: I whole-heartedly recommned this book to anyone interested in WWII and getting behind the post-war propaganda. What really happened to Dresden and why has been buried for half a century under agendas--first by the Nazis themselves and later by the Soviets. If we don't understand history and study it in an unblinking, rigorous fashion, we are surely destined to repeat it. Frederick Tayler is a very well-respected historian and this book will be a landmark in the post-Cold War rediscovery of 20th century history. I only hope the publishers are planning a German version, to bring the new research across the language barrier.
Rating:
Summary: Excel Thruout, Tho It Underplays the German Civilian Horror
Review: Mr. Taylor has written a very readable, well researched book on the most (in)famous Allied bombing effort in Germany. He gives a fine history of the city of Dresen, and air war theories from the 1920's, and decribes earlier bombing attacks like London, Warsaw, Coventry, Hamburg, and Essen. He shows that there were many war based industries in Dresden, mainly consumer businesses like camera switched to war time weaponry. The incredible suffering of civilians is also described, families burnt alive or suffocated, a group of well heeled restauranters who are trapped and commit suicide together, and thousands more. The German medical/ health response is surprisingly strong, given the huge difficulties. His final death and casualties may be low, and he seems to suggest that Dresden "had it coming", though he does show some compassion for all sides. Alexander's Mckee's earlier study describes much more from the side of the British pilots, who were not happy with the results of the bombing, and seemed perhaps misled by the RAF leadership. All in all, despite some controversial conclusion, a very worthy addition to the vast WW2 library!
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