2929 February 2020 THE WEEKARTSOn 13 February 1945 ,thecitizensof
Dresdenweredoingtheirbest–despite
thethreatoftheadvancingRedArmy
–“tosummonupthecarnivalmood”
forFasching,thefestivalthatmarks
ShroveTuesday.Butat9.40pm,said
TheEconomist,“whatpassedfor
jollity”cametoasuddenendwiththe
droneofsirens.IntheAlliedbombingraidsthatfollowed,the
historiccityontheRiverElbewasconsumedinaconflagration
thatleft25,0 00 dead.It’satragedythathasinspiredmanybooks,
butSinclairMcKay’sisa“worthyaddition”.Foronething,it’s
“scrupulouslyfair”,eschewingeasymoralising.McKaydescribes
thecity’sextraordinarycontributiontotheartsandscience,and
givesa“harrowinglydetailed”accountofthevictims’sufferings.
Buthealsopoints outthat Dresden hadaccommodated itselfto
Nazism “alltooeasily”: itsJewishpopulation hadbeenreduced
from 6 ,000to 198, and slavelabourers toiledin itsfactories.
McKay’s book“grips byitspassion andoriginality”,said Max
HastingsinTheSundayTimes.Ihavenever seen thefirestorm
thatracedthroughthecitybetter described:thereis“rage inhis
ink”asherecountsthedestructionof
the18thcenturycathedral.Hemight,
however,havedonemoretoexplore
thefactorsthatallowedtheheadof
RAFBomberCommand,SirArthur
Harris,topursuehis“unswervingly
brutal”campaignagainstmilitary
andciviliantargetsalike.Chief
amongthemwas“industrial
determinism”:Britainhadbuiltup
avastforceofbombers,andwhile
Germantroopswerestillinflicting
heavycasualties,“itwasunthinkable
tostanddownHarris’ssquadrons”.
Drawingoneyewitnessaccountsin
Dresden’smunicipalarchive,McKay
bringsnewdetailtoafamiliarstory,
saidPiersBrendoninProspect.Amidtheruins,onetraumatised
survivorinitiallythoughthewashallucinating:walkingdown
thestreetwasagiraffe,freedbyadirecthitonthezoo.Such
recollectionslenda“vividnessandpoignancy”thatother
accountshavelacked,agreedRichardOveryintheFinancial
Times,whileMcKay’soverviewofthecity’shistoryaddsa“rich
and colourful dimension”toan otherwisegrim narrative.Asfor
whether the raids weremorallyjustifiedorstrategically necessary,
thesearerightly seen asquestions“towhichnounambiguous
response canbegiven”.Thereare some factualerrors –the
Sovietsdidnot request thebombingofDresdenatYalta,for
instance,despitelaterefforts tobla methem for thedecision –but
thisisahistory woventogether “withconsiderable literaryflair”.Dresden
by Sinclair McKay
Viking 400pp £20
The Week Bookshop£16.99
Review of reviews: BooksBookoftheweek“Anyone readingClement Knox’shistoryof
seductionforsalaciousentertainment”willfind
onlya“verylightsprinklingofbawdiness”, said
HoumanBarekat inThe Spectator. It’s a“very
serioustome” aboutseductionasanexercisein
power,usingclassicnovelsand culturalfigures to
exploreitssubject.It begins in 1740 withSamuel
Richardson’sPamela–thebestsellingstoryofa
poorgirlpursuedbyherrakishboss.Thecastof
characters,chosen toillustrate theattitudesof
theirtime, ranges from Byron and MaryShelley to theAfrican-Americanboxer
Jack Johnson,whowas sent toprisonfor marryingawhite woman, to the
gloomymalesingl etonsin thenovels of MichelHouellebecq.Knox’s
achievement lies in bringingthemtoget her in asinglenarrative.
Seduction,Knox argues in this “big andboldbook, isaquesti on of
storytelling”, said Frances Wilsonin The Sunday Times.Itfeatures rakes,
libertines and vampires, and–ofcours e–Casanova (1725-1798). Knox
emphasisesthat histally of seductionswasarelatively “modest” 130, andthat
he neverresorted to force: “the thrill lay lessin thecatch than in thechase”. But
alongsidethe talesofpredatory men, said Helen McCarthyinThe Guardian,
there isasunnier view of seductionasthe “emancipatedpursuitof sexual
pleasure”.Knox’s “capacious”history is perceptive about the changes wrought
in ou rown timesbysexual liberation: as the criticandnovelist Elizabeth
Hardwicknoted –lamenting thelossofaclassi cplot line–“youcannot seduce
anyone when innocenceis no tavalue”.Overall, althoughStrange Anticsis a
“vivid” book, Knox’s arguments and conclusions are not particularly clear.
For all its eclectic learning,Idowish that he “had asked plainer questions”.
Strange Antics
by Clement Knox
William Collins 528pp £25
The Week Bookshop£21.99 (incl. p&p)
Novel of the weekWeather
by Jenny Offill
Granta 224pp £12.99
The Week Bookshop£10.99This “truly remarkable” novel focuses onLizzie
Benson,aNew York librarian boggeddownby
her underachieving husband,difficult son and
druggybrother, saidAlexPreston in The
Guardian. Enlistedby herformer professor –
now an eco-guru–toansweremails from fans,
she findsherself infected by theirsenseof
impendingdoom,andstarts “prepping” for the
apocalypse. Butthebook’ stitle doesn’t just refer
to climatechange –italso encompasses the
atmosphere ofmenace in Trump’s America.
Despite Lizzie’s apocalyptic fears, this is a
brisk andhumorous book, said Dwight Garner
in The NewYorkTimes: Lizzie “wearsher
paranoia lightly”.The comedyisr einforcedby
the aphoristic format:Offil lusessquare blocks
of text,separatingeach short sectionwith white
space to makeit“linger in the mind”.Weather
is an uncannily realistic portraitof“what it’s
like to be aliveright now”,said Lucy Scholes
in The Daily Telegraph. It’sabout coming to
termswith your helplessness, not knowing quite
whatto do,but trying anyway–and in it,Offill
achieve s“arare triumph”.To order thesetitles or any other book in print, visit
theweekbookshop.co.ukor speaktoabookseller on020-3176 3835
Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pmand Sunday 10am-4pm