Volume 51, Number 16 · October 21, 2004
The Destruction of Germany
By Ian Buruma
Der Brand: Deutschland im Bombenkrieg 1940–1945(The Fire: Germany in the Bombing War, 1940–1945)
by Jörg Friedrich
Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 592 pp., $25.00
Brandstätten: Der Anblick des Bombenkriegs(Scenes of Fire: A View of the Bombing War)
by Jörg Friedrich
Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 240 pp., $25.00
From the cockpit of an RAF Lancaster bomber, the approach to a major German city at night in 1943 must have been a bit like entering a brightly lit room stark naked—a moment of total vulnerability. Trapped in the blinding web of searchlights, tossed about by flak explosions, terrified of fighter planes attacking from above, freezing in temperatures well below zero, exhausted through lack of sleep and constant tension, limbs aching from having to sit in the same cramped position for many hours, ears tormented by the screaming engines of a plane fighting for its life, the pilot knew he might be blown to bits at any time. And that is indeed what happened to the more than 55,000 airmen in Bomber Command who lost their lives somewhere over Germany.
Review, 4192 words
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