This book was excellent. I never read factual books about war...but I recently finished If this is Man by Primo Levi and I thought this book would be an interesting addition to that. Two stories unfolding at the same time just 250 miles but a whole world apart
I really engaged immediately with this book because it isn’t an endless dry account of the minutiae of military strategy, it was really told from the perspective of the city of Dresden itself and the people living in it, the everyday person, not the ‘important’ people. Although there are facts and some strategy spoken of, these parts are still very much in the context of the people and city. I learnt so much and was totally gripped, to the extent that it was hard not to read through the night. I really did step into this book and was transported.,,and now I can’t stop thinking about it. So many thoughts, all conflicting...but isn’t that what makes a great book.
The only thing I didn’t like was the almost end...the section about life in the soviet era...it seemed to distract from everything that had gone before. It was as if the author couldn’t stop and draw a conclusion just on what the main bulk of the book had dealt with. But this is a very minor comment because I am so very pleased to have read this. I totally recommend it to anyone.