German Historians and the Bombing of German Cities

Bas von Benda-Beckmann is affiliated with the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam.

"Benda Beckmann’s ability to compile, synthesize, and summarize disparate histories is admirable; the book functions as an excellent survey of the way German views on the air war changed over time." S. Anderson, Choice Connect "Benda-Beckmann’s study presents a detailed, focused assessment of German interpretations of Der Bombenkrieg. His discussion of the debates among and between West German historians such as Horst Boog, Manfred Messerchmitt, and Klaus Maier and East German historian Olaf Groener is superb." - Douglas Carl Peifer, Journal of Military History

• Introduction, Chapter 1 Putting the Allies on trial Historical accounts of the Allied air war in the early Federal Republic, 1945-1970, Chapter 2 Dresden and the Cold War: East-West Debates on the Bombing of Dresden, 1945-1970, Chapter 3 A Past becomes History The professionalizing of military historiography of the air war in the Federal Republic since the 1970s, Chapter 4 Imperialist Air War East German historiography and the work of Olaf Groehler, 1965-1995, Chapter 5 Breaking Taboos : Jörg Friedrich and the Rediscovery of the Allied Bombings in the United Germany, Conclusion: The Allied bombings as a German catastrophe, Abbreviations, Bibliography