Book Review of Bombing Pompeii: World Heritage and Military Necessity, by Nigel Pollard

Abstract

In the second sentence of the acknowledgments to Pollard’s volume, the author makes a surprising admission: “Long ago I swore I would never undertake research related to Pompeii” (xi). Although an odd beginning given the book’s title, to his credit Pollard has largely kept his word. This work is not concerned with the archaeological impact of dropping more than 160 bombs on the ancient city but rather with the place of those events within the history of cultural property protection during the Second World War.