Paul Addison is a historian of twentieth century Britain based at the University of Edinburgh, where he has been the Director since 1996 of the Centre for Second World War Studies.

His most recent book, CHURCHILL: THE UNEXPECTED HERO, was published by Oxford University Press in 2005, and he is currently writing for the same publisher a social history of Britain since 1945. He is the editor, with Harriet Jones, of A COMPANION TO CONTEMPORARY BRITISH HISTORY 1939-2000, published by Blackwells in 2005.

His first book, THE ROAD TO 1945: BRITISH POLITICS AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR, was published by Cape in 1975. He was the historical consultant for the eight-part BBC 2 series Now The War Is Over (1984) and the author of the book of the same title published in association with the series.

CHURCHILL ON THE HOME FRONT 1900-1955, his study of Churchill in domestic politics, was published by Cape in 1992. At the Centre for Second World War Studies he has promoted the study of military history and the human face of battle. With Angus Calder he edited TIME TO KILL; THE SOLDIERS' EXPERIENCE OF WAR IN THE WEST 1939-1945 (Pimlico 1997) and with Jeremy Crang THE BURNING BLUE: A NEW HISTORY OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (Pimlico 2000). Pimlico are also to publish FIRESTORM: THE BOMBING OF DRESDEN 1945, a collection of essays which he has edited with Jeremy Crang.

Paul Addison is married with two sons and lives in Edinburgh.

Edited by Paul Addison and Jeremy Strang

On the night of 13 and 14 February 1945, the RAF bombed the city of Dresden, causing devastating fires which obliterated the historic city centre and killed many thousands of people.

Sixty years later these raids remain one of the most notorious, and also one of the most controversial, episodes in the history of the Second World War.

This book assembles a cast of distinguished scholars, including Sebastian Cox, Nicola Lambourne, Soenke Neitzel, Richard Overy and Hew Strachan, to review the origins, conduct, and consequences of the raids. Each contributor writes from his or her own perspective, offering the reader a panoramic reassessment of the evidence and the issues, including the question of whether or not the bombing of the city constitutes a war crime.

FIRESTORM cogently demonstrates the reasons why Dresden has come to symbolise the military and ethical questions involved in the waging of total war. A brilliant new book about one of the most controversial British and American air campaigns of the Second World War.