Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xiv, 272 pages; 25 cm

Summary

1. World War II--"the good war"--Is here viewed from a new angle of vision, one that sheds fresh light on how major decisions were reached. More than just a book on the strategy and outcome of American bombing in World War II, Wings of Judgment tells about choices in war, decisions that determined whether hundreds of thousands of people lived or died and whether famous cities and great monuments of civilization survived or were destroyed. It is about the bombing of Dresden and Berlin and of dozens of cities and towns all over Germany and about the preservation of Rome and Florence. It is about the incineration of Tokyo, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the sparing of one of Japan's most beautiful and holy places, the city of Kyoto. Describing U.S. air raids that terrified inhabitants of enemy nations and citizens of enemy-occupied countries, it raises serious questions about the military and moral effects of American bombing. It also tells of American efforts to avoid killing civilians needlessly. Taking us behind the scenes at military headquarters, Schaffer shows that even the toughest warriors occasionally found themselves offering moral arguments for their actions, arguing that they were made right by enemy atrocities, by the justness of the Allied cause, and by the numbers of lives of American servicemen that Allied bombing might save.

Subject

1. United States. Army Air Forces > History > World War, 1939-1945
2. United States. Army Air Forces
3. 1939-1945
4. Geschichte 1943-1945
5. Geschichte 1942-1945
6. Geschichte 1939-1945
7. World War, 1939-1945 > Aerial operations, American
8. Bombing, Aerial
9. World War, 1939-1945 > Moral and ethical aspects
10. World War, 1939-1945 > Psychological aspects
11. Strategy
12. Military operations, Aerial > American
13. Bombing, Aerial
14. Ethics
15. Psychological aspects
16. Strategy
17. Luftangriff
18. Luftkrieg
19. Weltkrieg 1939-1945
20. Bombardementen
21. Tweede Wereldoorlog
22. World War, 1939-1945 > Aerial operations, American
23. World War, 1939-1945 > Moral and ethical aspects
24. World War, 1939-1945 > Psychological aspects
25. Deutschland
26. Japan
27. USA

Genre/Form

1. History

Contents

1. Leaders of the American air war -- American air war doctrine and the bombing of civilians -- American air operations in Europe : occupied countries and axis satellites -- The bombing of Germany : early operations -- The bombing of Germany : transition to Douhetian warfare -- The bombing of Japan : preparing for the fire raids -- The bombing of Japan : from Tokyo to Nagasaki -- The bombing of Japan : American perceptions of the moral issue -- Reactions to the moral issue : accounting for the variations.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Note

1. Includes index.

Bibliography (note)

1. "Essay on sources" p. 252-261.