Jörg Friedrich (sometimes spelled Joerg or Jorg in English) (born 17 August 1944 in Kitzbühel) is a German author and historian. Friedrich is best known for his publication "Der Brand" (2002), in which he portrays the Allied bombing of civilian targets during World War II as systematic and in many ways pointless mass murder. An English translation, "The Fire", was published in 2006 by Columbia University Press and met with widespread critical approval. For example, the "New York Times" said it "describes in stark, unrelenting and very literary detail what happened in city after city as the Allies dropped 80 million incendiary bombs on Germany... There is... an edginess to Friedrich's writing and commentary, an emotional power."