'Its obvious contemporary relevance gives this book a timeliness to add to the timeless nature of the debate to which it contributes ... Books like this should be compulsory reading for all senior politicians'

Guardian

'Extraordinary ... deserves to be read, not only by those interested in the history of the Second World War, but also by those who continue to be interested in the ethical questions of warfare, in a world where British governments and their allies still try to justify the bombing of civilian targets'

Daily Telegraph

'Grayling recognises all too well that area bombing must be put firmly in the context of the wider war and the blurring (indeed the obliteration) of moral lines it caused ... A challenging, thought-provoking book that forces us to confront some uncomfortable home truths'

Glasgow Herald

'A provocative and readable study ... that is the purpose of his book, to provoke our leaders, and those on whose behalf they purport to act, to ask how to wage a war by methods short of barbarism'

John Charmley, Guardian