Columbia University SIWPS, "A War Crime Against War Criminals? The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945".@Mitsuru Fukuda.
The Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia
"A War Crime Against War Criminals? The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945"
Randall Hansen
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
February 1, 2010, 12:15pm - 2:00pm
Room 1302, 13th Floor
School of International and Public Affairs 420 West 118th Street New York City
Back to TOP page (Mitsuru Fukuda HP)
For decades, the Allied bombing of Germany during World has been a topic of
enduring controversy. This has never been more the case than
today: in 2002, German historian Jorg Friedrich received international
attention by calling the bombing a war crime, and condemning Winston
Churchill as the greatest murder of women and children in history.
Against this backdrop, the lecture will review the American theory and
application of airpower during World War II, asking two questions: was the
American practice of bombing morally justified, and did it work?
Professor Hansen is a Full Professor and Canada Research Chair at the
University of Toronto. His book "Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of
Germany" (NY: New American Library, 2009) examines the morality and
effectiveness of the Combined Bomber Offensive over Germany during World War
II. The book, which was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award
for Non-Fiction, has been described by Donald L. Miller (Masters of the Air)
as "Superb...the best book available on the combined bomber
offensive...insightful, rigorously researched, and splendidly written, a
work of careful composition" and by Margaret Macmillan (Paris 1919) as
"outstanding," a "vivid, yet judicious account."
Back to TOP page (Mitsuru Fukuda HP)
