This is philosophy bites with me David Edmonds and me Nigel Warton.

Philosophy bites is available at W.

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From 1942 to the end of the Second World War the allies reduced key

German cities such as Dresden and Hamburg to rubble. The 1945 attack on

Dresden alone had killed up to 40,000 people.

American nuclear bombs would destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

These bombings quite possibly hasten the end of the war and perhaps ultimately save lives.

But A.C. Graling, author of Among the Dead Cities,

says the deliberate targeting of civilians

were despicable and morally inexcusable crimes. Anthony Graling, welcome to Philosophy Bites.

It's a pleasure, thank you.

Today I want to focus on a question that has contemporary resonance but is sparked by events of the

Second World War, which is the morality of

targeting civilians in time of war. You've written a book about this among the

dead cities where you argue quite strongly that it's immoral to target civilians.

I wonder if you could say a little bit about how you came to write that book.

I came to rise because I've been very interested in the air war from a very early age.

In fact, when I was a small boy, I wanted to be a Spitfire pilot in the Battle war from a very early age. In fact, when I was a small boy I wanted to be a

split-fire pilot in the Battle of Britain, which would have been a bit difficult, would have

involved time-traveled and better eyesight. In any case, my mother wouldn't have let me because I was

only seven at the time, but it was that interest, which generated a passionate desire to know more about it, more about all of it.

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