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Under the Bombs tells the story of the civilian population of German cities devastated by Allied bombing in World War II. These people went to work, tried to keep a home (though in many cases it was just a pile of rubble where a house once stood), and attempted to live life as normally as possible amid the chaos of war. Earl Beck also looks at the food and fuel rationing the German people endured and the problems of trying to make a public complaint while living in a totalitarian state.
Review Quotes
1.
"A powerful study." -- American Historical Review
2.
"Challenges the contention of Allied commanders that airpower was the ultimate key to victory and that it could have defeated the enemy by itself." -- "America"
3.
"A powerful study." -- "American Historical Review"
4.
"The most vivid account available of what it was actually like to live under the bombings." -- "Historian"
5.
"A tribute to human resilience under extreme stress, both in response to the terror from the sky and to the sacrifices the Nazis imposed on their people." -- "History"
6.
"A testament to the traditional stubbornness and strength of the Germans that allowed them to hold on and rebuild the country after war's end....Offers a respite from the barrage of books on the Nazis, Hitler, and the Holocaust." -- "Kirkus Reviews"
7.
"An overview of the major bombing raids and their material and human damage....This evocative study captures the horror of war for a trapped population." -- "Library Journal"
8.
"An enlightening, highly readable account of life in the war-ravaged Third Reich." -- "Pineville Sun, Berea Citizen, Jackson Times, Beattyville Enterprize"
9.
"Gives some idea of what reaping a whirlwind is like." -- "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
10.
"A description of what it was like to live, work, suffer, and die in wartime Germany." -- "The Historian"
11.
"This excellent work provides interesting insights into the concept of total war. The results are sobering and, one hopes, never to be endured again. That the Germans survived as well as they did is a tribute to the will of the human spirit. In explaining that, the author poses a troubing question: 'Could Americans survive this kind of devistation?'" -- "Warbirds"
12.
"Challenges the contention of Allied commanders that airpower was the ultimate key to victory and that it could have defeated the enemy by itself." -- America
13.
"A powerful study." -- American Historical Review
14.
"The most vivid account available of what it was actually like to live under the bombings." -- Historian
15.
"A tribute to human resilience under extreme stress, both in response to the terror from the sky and to the sacrifices the Nazis imposed on their people." -- History
16.
"A testament to the traditional stubbornness and strength of the Germans that allowed them to hold on and rebuild the country after war's end....Offers a respite from the barrage of books on the Nazis, Hitler, and the Holocaust." -- Kirkus Reviews
17.
"An overview of the major bombing raids and their material and human damage....This evocative study captures the horror of war for a trapped population." -- Library Journal
18.
"An enlightening, highly readable account of life in the war-ravaged Third Reich." -- Pineville Sun, Berea Citizen, Jackson Times, Beattyville Enterprize
19.
"Gives some idea of what reaping a whirlwind is like." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch
20.
"A description of what it was like to live, work, suffer, and die in wartime Germany." -- The Historian
21.
"This excellent work provides interesting insights into the concept of total war. The results are sobering and, one hopes, never to be endured again. That the Germans survived as well as they did is a tribute to the will of the human spirit. In explaining that, the author poses a troubing question: 'Could Americans survive this kind of devistation?'" -- Warbirds
