Among The Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan (Paperback)
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Description
“Was the bombing offensive [against civilians in Germany and Japan] a crime against humanity,” writes A. C. Grayling, “or was it justified by the necessities of war? These questions mark one of the great remaining controversies of the Second World War.” Their resolution, which Grayling accomplishes with great respect and with a sense of urgency, is a vital contribution to the debate about how far governments can go in the name of national security.
About the Author
A. C. Grayling is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of several books, among them Meditations for the Humanist, and biographies of Rene Descartes and William Hazlitt. A fellow of the World Economic Forum and past chairman of the human rights organization, June Fourth, he contributes frequently to the Financial Times and the Economist. He lives in London.
Praise for Among The Dead Cities: The History and Moral Legacy of the WWII Bombing of Civilians in Germany and Japan…
“A probing, thoughtful meditation...The excellence of Among the Dead Cities, however, rests less on Grayling’s deductions than his provision of enough information and argument for readers with alternate premises to draw different conclusions. That richness makes wrestling with his views a demanding intellectual exercise.”—Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Was the indiscriminate bombing of civilians—in Hamburg, in Dresden, in Tokyo, in Hiroshima, in Nagasaki—justifiable militarily, or was it ‘in whole or in part morally wrong’?... Almost immediately one senses what [Grayling’s] answer will be—an unequivocal “Yes”—but he must be given full credit for reaching that conclusion only after a careful, nuanced analysis...If there was no military justification for the bombings, then there cannot possibly be a moral one, and Grayling’s judgment that they were immoral seems to me exceedingly difficult to refute.”—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
“In an age of political terror, when it is urgent to come up with a persuasive distinction between legitimate and illegitimate violence, it is hard to overstate the importance of the questions Grayling raises.”—Fredric Smoler, American Heritage
“In his timely examination of “area bombing,” which targeted civilian populations for destruction during World War II, British philosopher A.C. Grayling brings a fresh perspective to some of the great questions of modern history…and gives answers that should broaden thinking about how the United States conducts its global war on terrorism and its conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.”—G. Pascal Zachary, San Francisco Chronicle
“In this book, one of the world’s most passionate and articulate humanists attends to one of the twentieth-century's largest unexploded moral conundrums…Grayling’s verdict is surprising not in ultimately condemning the attacks but in doing so in an elegantly blunt fashion that simultaneously radiates profound compassion for the perpetrators.”— Booklist, starred review
