Der Brand

As is befitting my mood on the pending war in Iraq, I've starting reading Der Brand (The Fire), the account by historian Jörg Friedrich of the Allied bombing of German cities in World War II (mentioned this past weekend in the NY Times). The book has been controversial outside Gemany for supposedly implying that the bombing of German cities was a war crime. I'm going to try to judge for myself. It's heavy, slow reading. I hope I make it to the end.