The Battle of Hamburg: The Firestorm Raid

by Martin Middlebrook

Tells what it was like for the citizens of Hamburg to survive the horrible experiences of an Allied bombing attack and describes the confrontation between Allied and Nazi air forces

Genres: History, World War II, Military Fiction, Aviation, Military History, Germany, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Martin Middlebrook was a British military historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Appointed Knight of the Order of the Belgian Crown in 2004.

Reviews

[Trawets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Middlebrook has once again produced a very readable, but also very well researched piece of military history. He looks at the air raids on Hamburg, not only from the viewpoint of the allied bomber crews but also from that of the city's defenders and inhabitants
As well as describing the horrors inflicted on the citizens of Hamburg, ironically one of the cities least sympathetic to the Nazis before the war., Martin Middlebrook also looks at the morality of the RAF's policy of "area bombing" with it's unstated tactic of targeting residential areas.
Martin Middlebrook is as always even handed, acknowledging the efficiency of the local Nazi party leadership, but also judging the RAF commanders by the the standards and limitations of their time.
A thoroughly good read.

[Joseph Langham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now the third Middlebrook book I've read, this certainly did not disappoint. Part of the great achievement of his books is the fact that he recorded and researched so many personal testimonies from such a broad variety of people- something which could never be done today. The lived experience of these people is rightly central to examining the historical and moral rights and wrongs of this particular episode. Moreover, he presents the history of this time and all the controversies it entails without an agenda or settled moral viewpoint; we are gifted a fully contextualised, rigorous account of the events and invited to make up out own minds. A stunning piece of history.

[Christopher Rizzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

88

[Simon]

extensively researched and unbiased account of Bomber Commands and the Eighth Airforces attacks on Hamburg. Much eyewitness testimony is included.