Customer Reviews

Bombing Civilians: A Twentieth-Century History

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This excellent collection studies British `humane bombing' in Iraq and other parts of the empire, the Japanese, German, Us and British bombing campaigns in World War Two, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USAF and RAF's lead role in bombing civilians from the 20th to the 21st centuries, and the bombings of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan (and now Libya). It finishes with two studies, ethical and legal, of bombing civilians.

The RAF commander in Iraq in the 1920s said that bombing was `undoubtedly humane in the long run' and that it was, `beyond all argument, the most merciful course to take'. In those years, the RAF was also bombing Afghanistan, India, Yemen, Egypt and Somaliland.

In an important essay, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa argues that the Soviet entry into World War Two was `far more important' than the atomic bombing in Japan's decision to surrender.

The commanding general of the US Army Air Force said that the strategic bomber was `the most humane of all weapons'. US General Curtis LeMay boasted, "we burnt down every town in North Korea and South Korea, too." US and British forces killed possibly 3 million Korean people, mostly civilians.

During the US attack on Vietnam, the USAAF dropped 8 million tons of bombs on Indochina (compared to 2 million it dropped in all theatres in World War Two); their explosive power equaled 640 Hiroshima-size bombs. They killed between 2 and 4 million Indochinese people, again mostly civilians.

This is a remarkable collection of essays on various aspects of mass bombing of civilians in wartime. It has plenty of information about the strategy and tactics of aerial warfare - especially the destruction of Germany and Japan. It won't appeal to those who think anything the USA did/does to protect its interest is justifiable but anyone looking for clear, well argued analysis about this ongoing issue will find plenty to digest - it is well referenced but not written for academics only. Readers who enjoy it might like to look at Higher than Heaven (1995) by Rick Tanaka and Tony Barrell Higher Than Heaven: Japan, War and Everything

This book should be adopted in all US schools,
even if I am a bit skeptical about results !
Why US people,apparently so decent and sensible, are so indifferent to others' suf-
ferings? They dont want to know and if they
know they do not care too much.
So they repeat same 'mistakes'(=crimes ?) over
the years, covering them with same 'smoke
curtain': it is asthonishing how US leaders'
words beginning, e.g. ,last century sound
like today's ! Freedom, democracy etc. on the
one hand, BOMBS on the other.
A long chain of painful,for the 'others',
contradictions between talking and doing ,
perhaps the only real heritage from UK ancestors. At same time, congratulations to
the knowledge and courage of the Authors
producing such excellent texts: you can find
them in US and UK only, not in Europe .
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year ,with less
bombs

I'd normally be very sympathetic to a critical or at least analytical view of so called "strategic" bombing through the 20th century and beyond. It's an important topic. But, I'm sorry, this book is rubbish and not much more than a shrill screed intended to fill the heads of people like that Italian (I think) with anti-American nonsense. It makes all the right noises about being about "morality" and "history", but in truth, it's neither - it's the amateur ranting of a biased individual dressed up to look like history, not unlike Gar Alperowicz's awful "the decision to use the atomic bomb."

Oh, where do I begin?

First, the author basically redefines 'strategic bombing' as the deliberate terror bombing of civilians and then takes this sock puppet as a basis for his "ethical philosophizing." In a few isolated cases, this was doubtlessly true and there certainly cases, such as the obvious one at Dresden, where there are legitimate questions about the need and even morality of specific raids. In the case of Dresden, this was particularly true since there was already a fair bit of debate as to the need for the raid. However, for most of the work, Tanaka and co's reasoning borders on bizarre--for example, because strategic bombing by itself did not win the war in the west, he argues, then it was ineffective, and therefore immoral to have been used in Japan. Really, that's the argument. A competent and unbiased historian to say nothing of ethical philosopher would view this as a question of alternatives - for any given situation, what was the best and most ethical alternative. The authors utterly fail to do this in any serious way, and thus any discussion of the 'theory' of strategic bombing dissolves to not much of anything.

Were that simply it, I might let this get by with two or even three stars were it at least a competent history, which, in fairness, the chapter titles suggest it might be. Alas, it's not. Again, it's a screed and not much more than that. You need look no further than the pseudo-history -- actually, I'll just come out and say it - willfull lies - that the authors employ in their chapter dealing with the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In short, they utterly and totally ignore everything that we know actually happened in the Japanese cabinet in the days leading up to surrender and instead latches onto a long discredited "soviet entry" theory that we know as a matter of historical record simply was NOT the or even a major factor affecting the Japanese surrender decision. We know unambiguously from any number of sources - both primary sources in Japanese and any number of subsequent histories in both English and Japanese based on these - that the atomic bombs were ultimately the deciding factor that caused a Japan that was otherwise well equipped for a drawn out bloodbath in order to negotiate a favorable peace (and politically deadlocked thus inexorably leading to this end), to surrender essentially unconditionally, the prerogatives of the Emperor notwithstanding. That the authors ignore these facts and hope to rewrite the history of the war in half a chapter is indicative of the duplicity. It's simply fraudulent history put forth to support pre-conceived conclusion.

I call a "do-over." Junk this stupid book and have somebody with a more realistic grasp of the ethical issues and a willingness to look at history as a series of decisions and alternatives, to say nothing of factual events that actually did or did not happen, have a go. Same title, same chapter structure, but just not this politically motivated, biased nonsense. I'd read it. There are important things to be said about Guernica, London, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima+Nagasaki, Cu Chi and the western provinces, and beyond. This book says almost none of them.

Recommended watching instead: PBS's excellent "Victory in the Pacific" (featuring real historians, like Donald Miller) for a sober and balanced discussion on the strategic bombing of Japan.

FOr the record, I haven't received the book yet, but i heard a wonderful presentation by Professor Tanaka on the history of indiscriminate bombing at the University of Chicago (you can find the podcast at chiasmos.uchicago.edu). Doing what a great scholar should - bringing old/buried information to light and offering new perspectives on things. I found his presentation to be balanced, informative and provocative, and I can't wait to read the book!