Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg

Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg, 1943
by: Keith Lowe
Publisher: Scribner; 1st edition (June 5, 2007)
Language: English
Hardcover: 448 pages
ISBN-10: 0743269004
ISBN-13: 9780743269001
Book Description
From Publishers Weekly
Freelance author Lowe presents the 1943 Hamburg firestorm raids as a case study in WWII’s defining characteristic: the tension between desire to destroy at random and will to restrain that desire. Historically inclined to the liberal and socialist Left, Hamburg complied with the Nazi New Order, but didn’t celebrate it. The city was also a major industrial center and legitimate target—especially given the Allied belief that air attacks could make war shorter and less destructive. Lowe vividly describes the death, destruction and accompanying horrors, such as blocks of people being sucked into the firestorms. He’s at pains to show the airmen’s lack of triumphalism, after suffering heavy losses in attacking the well-defended target. But when he says that Hamburg is regarded as a by: :: : word for horror, he seems to mean in Germany—Europe has not developed much sympathy for the tribulations of the Third Reich. He’s on even shakier ground arguing that Britons and Americans developed a “legacy of guilt” for the bombing, and positioning the later years of the combined bomber offensive on a continuum with the Holocaust, because neither distinguished between combatants and civilians. Nevertheless, this balanced and evocative analysis makes a provocative contribution to moral studies of the air war over Germany. (June)
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From Booklist
Over a 10-day period in July 1943, British and American bombers dropped more than 9,000 tons of bombs on the German port city of Hamburg. As Lowe makes clear, Hamburg, unlike Dresden, was a legitimate military target, a thriving commercial center containing vital port facilities. He effectively sets the stage for the bombings by: :: : describing the geographic setting of the city and its role in the war effort. When the attacks begin, Lowe describes the effects in powerful, sometimes sickening detail. Utilizing letters, diaries, and military reports from both Allied and German sources, he shows how vast areas of the city were obliterated by: :: : the bomb blasts; but the most shocking reports show how thousands of helpless civilians were incinerated or suffocated by: :: : the firestorms that were visible 200 miles away. This is strong stuff that should remind us that even “just” wars are all about destruction and death on a massive scale. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“A grim and timely reminder of the terrible cost of war, Inferno is a brilliantly told story of the destruction of Hamburg by: :: : the Allies in 1943 by: :: : a talented new author. Keith Lowe writes compassionately of death, agony, courage and survival in the hell of a doomed city. Highly recommended.”
— Carlo D’Este, author of Decision in Normandy and Eisenhower
“A real triumph: shocking, yet sensitive and supremely fair-minded. This is a wonderful book about hellish events.”
–Richard Holmes, author of Acts of War and Soldiers, editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History
About the Author
Keith Lowe is an editor in the United Kingdom and the author of Tunnel Vision. He lives in London.