Dresden - by Frederick Taylor (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"A picture markedly different from conventional accounts." --New York Times Book Review

The dramatic and controversial account that completely re-examines the Allied attack on Dresden

For decades it has been assumed that the Allied bombing of Dresden was militarily unjustifiable, an act of rage and retribution for Germany's ceaseless bombing of London and other parts of England.

In Dresden, Frederick Taylor's groundbreaking research offers a completely new examination of the facts, and reveals that Dresden was a highly-militarized city actively involved in the production of military armaments and communications concealed beneath the cultural elegance for which the city was famous. Incorporating first-hand accounts, contemporaneous press material and memoirs, and never-before-seen government records, Taylor documents unequivocally the very real military threat Dresden posed, and thus altering forever our view of that attack.

From the Back Cover

For decades it has been assumed that the Allied bombing of Dresden -- a cultured city famous for its china, chocolate, and fine watches -- was militarily unjustifiable, an act of retribution for Germany's ceaseless bombing of London and other parts of England.

Now, Frederick Taylor's groundbreaking research offers a completely new examination of the facts and reveals that Dresden was a highly militarized city actively involved in the production of military armaments and communications. Incorporating first-hand accounts, contemporaneous press material and memoirs, and never-before-seen government records, Taylor proves unequivocally the very real military threat Dresden posed -- and how a legacy of propaganda shrouded the truth for sixty years.

Review Quotes

"Deeply affecting ... a bracing rebuke to the myths and propaganda that have painted over the memory of this tragedy." -- People

"The enigmatic past and the patient muse of history are brilliantly served ... by this blockbuster of a book." -- Chicago Sun-Times

"Taylor carefully debunks. . . the 'pervasive postwar myth'. . . . What emerges is a picture markedly different from conventional accounts." -- New York Times Book Review

"Fascinating. . . a fine, revealing work of revisionist history. He has also given us a deeply haunting human drama." -- Houston Chronicle

"Compelling ... [Taylor] puts the assault in its proper context to reveal the inherent moral tangle of total war." -- Atlantic Monthly

"A riveting narrative account." -- Salon.com

"Compelling ... Mr. Taylor makes a persuasive case that Dresden was not an innocent bystander in the tragedy that was WWII." -- Washington Times

"A strong and provocative work of World War II scholarship." -- Library Journal

"Accomplished." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A major contribution to the story of Dresden." -- Christian Science Monitor

"Genius. . . an absolutely magnificent work both of scholarship and of narration." -- The Literary Review (London)

"[An] authoritative and moving account .... Impeccably documented." -- The Independent (London)

"In narrative power and persuasion, [Taylor] has paralleled in DRESDEN what Antony Beevor achieved in STALINGRAD." -- Nicholas Fearn, The Independent on Sunday (London)

"Well-researched, objective and compassionate...Frederick Taylor convincingly sets the record straight." -- Anthony Looch, Daily Post (Liverpool)

"Groundbreaking ... [shines] new light on that fateful day and the resulting myths." -- Calgary Sun

"I thought I knew what happened at Dresden on that fiery day in 1945--and then I read this book." -- James Bradley

"Anyone who thinks that during World War Two Dresden manufactured just chinaware must read this penetrating book." -- Stanley P. Hirschson, author of General Patton: A Soldier's Life

"A provocative re-examination of the bombing of Dresden ... elgantly written and deeply moving." -- Peter Duffy, author of The Bielski Brothers