The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
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Book Overview
A "truly compelling" (Good Morning America) New York Times bestseller that explores how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war--from the creator and host of the podcast Revisionist History.
In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the "Bomber Mafia," asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, "Was it worth it?" Things might have gone differently had LeMay's predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0316296813
ISBN13:9780316296816
Release Date:June 2022
Publisher:Back Bay Books
Length:256 Pages
Weight:0.58 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.4" x 8.1"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Good book
Published by Hobo Greg , 6 months ago
I like Gladwell so I was stoked to see him writing on the subject. Especially liked that he shot down the notion that the Norden sight was not all it was cracked up to be. Overall wish it was a longer book though, only 200 pages and small page size, I was able to read it cover to cover in a couple hours.
A magazine article that got made into a book !
Published by Johnny Rex , 9 months ago
Save your time and money for other books on the same subject. This one is poorly written, difuse and wanders in it's narrative. I had high hopes but was dissappointed in the result.
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