- Published: 28 October 2020
- ISBN: 9780241986011
- Imprint: Penguin General UK
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 400
- RRP: $26.00
Dresden
The Fire and the Darkness
- Published: 28 October 2020
- ISBN: 9780241986011
- Imprint: Penguin General UK
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 400
- RRP: $26.00
Extraordinary . . . a remarkably faithful account
Guardian on The Secret Life of Bletchley Park
Painstakingly researched and fascinating
John Harding, Daily Mail on The Secret Listeners
Lucid, well-researched and rich in detail
John Preston, Daily Mail on The Spies of Winter
Fascinating, riveting, unsettling, and wonderfully rich in period detail
Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday on Mile End Murder
A shrewd, humane and balanced account of this most controversial target of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign, the ferocious consequence of the scourge of Nazism
Allan Mallinson, author of Fight to the Finish
Compelling . . . Sinclair McKay brings a dark subject vividly to life
Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent
Authentic and authoritative, a masterpiece of its genre
Damien Lewis, author of Zero Six Bravo
Along with much affecting human detail, I particularly like the way it contextualises the city's obliteration with scenes from Dresden's rich history
Bookseller
This is a brilliantly clear, and fair, account of one of the most notorious and destructive raids in the history aerial warfare. From planning to execution, the story is told by crucial participants - and the victims who suffered so cruelly on the ground from the attack itself and its aftermath
Robert Fox, author of We Were There
Masterful
Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday
Powerful . . . there is rage in his ink. McKay's book grips by its passion and originality
Max Hastings, Sunday Times
One of my favourite historians
Dan Snow, History Hit
McKay's rich narrative and descriptive gifts provide us with an elegant yet unflinching account of that terrible night . . . a very readable and finely crafted addition to the literature on one of modern history's most morally fraught military operations
Frederick Taylor, Wall Street Journal
McKay brings that time vividly alive but he's also alive to the moral ambiguities
Charlotte Heathcote, Daily Mirror
McKay recounts the story of Dresden's destruction through the recollections of those who miraculously survived, creating a kaleidoscope of experience . . . His prose, even when describing gruesome destruction, is often breathtakingly beautiful. This superbly rendered story allows the reader entry into the soul of an extraordinary city
Gerard DeGroot, The Times
A carefully researched, finely written and moving account of one of the great tragedies of 20th-century history
Saul David, Daily Telegraph
There have been many books on the bombing of Dresden (not least Kurt Vonnegut's novel, "Slaughterhouse Five"), but Sinclair McKay's account is a worthy addition. McKay's purpose is neither to condemn nor condone, but to record what happened and why. Above all, he rejoices in the modern city's resurrection
Economist
Accomplished
Prospect
Rich and colourful . . . [there is] a vividness and poignancy that other accounts have lacked
Richard Overy, Financial Times
McKay's book is better than narrative history. It is biography, but of place, rather than person. He makes Dresden come alive, before, during, and after the infernal 13th
John Lewis-Stempel, Daily Express, *****
A passionate and original account of the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945, one of the most controversial evens of the Second World War
Best Books of 2020: our favourites so far
A weighty and considered investigation of events . . . an excellent book . . . providing a reliable, engaging, informative and, above all, sober narrative of events. The book will enable readers to make up their own minds - should they so desire - on the rights and wrongs of the matter. It is highly recommended
BBC History Magazine
This minute-by-minute retelling tackles the big questions, but also - by drawing on the letters and diaries from the Dresden City Archive - never loosed sight of the experiences of people who witnessed, and suffered, the attach first-hand
BBC History Revealed, Book of the Month
It's a wonderful book, so absorbing, thoughtful and thought provoking, I didn't want it to end
Maureen Waller, author of London 1945: Life in the Debris of War
The story of the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945 is well known, but McKay's searing account is in a league of its own. His research is first-class, his writing elegant and emotive. He is brilliant at portraying the city's prewar beauty, grimly powerful on the horror of the firestorm, and moving and thoughtful about Dresden's rise from the ashes. By the end, I was itching to jump on a flight to Germany. That tells you about the skill and spirit of this terrific book
Dominic Sandbrook, The Times/Sunday Times Books of the Year