Many of my academic friends have warned me to take his conclusions with at least a few grains of salt. I went back and read The Bomber Mafia a second time. This exclusive Listener's Guide gives you an inside look at the production process, archival imagery and commentary from Malcolm and the producers and engineers involved with this extraordinary project. His interview with Fareed Zakaria was interesting, spanning everything from auto-pilot vehicles to U.S. university rankings to a critique of The Little Mermaid (which, thankfully, I have never seen). [21] In The New York Times Book Review, Thomas E. Ricks called the book "a conversational work" which he enjoyed, but noted that "when Gladwell leaps to provide superlative assessments, or draws broad lessons of history from isolated incidents, he makes me wary". This guide is based on the hardcover first edition. How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Note from the author Malcolm Gladwell, author . A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War The Bomber Mafia Malcolm Gladwell's exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war Learn More Buy the Hardcover and eBook eBook Hardcover Buy the Audiobook Pushkin Audiobook About Malcolm USAAC Fighter Projects officer Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey appreciated that a large bomber fleet would be able to perform many military tasks, not just strategic bombing, and felt that the force's doctrine should remain flexible to meet any demand. A fourth shell hit the cockpit, taking out the planes hydraulic system. Instead, the bomber fleets were a major factor in the general American war effort, helping to reduce the enemy fighting power, especially in Japan where they destroyed the largest cities by shifting to area incendiary bombing tactics. He just didnt have it. Senora Panqueque's Classroom. I did know that the British bombed during the night while the Americans seemed to have the much more hazardous daytime raids over Germany. 1. The kind of indiscriminate destruction that LeMay used to win the war is absolutely a thing of the past, at least for American forces. If burning entire populated cities from the air was effective the war would have been over way sooner in Europe and the Pacific. Guide begins with a very genuine trouble. Fortunately for LeMay, there was another new technology on the horizon. son. The straightforward location of how Japan was merely outside the range of bombers. One of Gladwells skills is enabling us to see the world through the eyes of his subjects. WATCH SEGMENT. I'm interested in the Bomber Mafia for my 13 y.o. The Bomber Mafia began as an audiobook, and later transitioned into a print book. Malcolm Gladwell's Fantasy of War From the Air - The New Republic For those of us who had family waiting to invade, whatever the reason(s), it was very welcome. The Bomber Mafia isn't an honest or earnest look at what experts have written and thought about America's air campaigns during WWII. I caught Gladwell on CNN last Sunday. The airmen believed that the tool would allow forces to focus on taking out specific targets that could cripple the enemys production lines rather than engaging in the kind of indiscriminate bombing that the Germans did on London and the Allied forces would against Dresden. In Gladwells account, Hansells relatively more humane approach didnt work. Just that, with bombing plane B29s the issue is definitely a lot more intricate with visibility, weather and anti-aircraft weapons to battle with. With battles airborne having the power to win you the battle, can we do accuracy battle to help reduce the casualties of war? And also yet, this publication is something that maintains you invested as it exists as a little bit more than an item of history. Tap the link to open your audiobook purchase in your podcast app. Actually, Gladwell mentions that the audio style is the initial text, as well as the hardback is the secondary item. They failed. [8], Although flawed and tested only under optimal conditions, the doctrine (originally known as the "industrial web theory")[9] became the primary airpower strategy of the United States in the planning for World War II. Two new bomber groups were formed in the Pacific: LeMay headed one in India and Hansell led another in the Marianas. This Bomber Mafia asked: What if precision bombing could, just by taking out critical choke points industrial or transportation hubs cripple the enemyandmake war far less lethal? Gladwell begins the story in the Introduction in January 1945, on the Mariana Islands. Malcolm Gladwells new audiobook, The Bomber Mafia,is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war. [] Hansell won the war". Gladwell describes the challenges that both faced. Because of a review from one of the Goodread friends, I decided to take on the audiobook, instead of the print/e-book version. Yet he also concludes that in the long run, in the years that followed, the idealistic Hansell was right to believe that an air campaign based on precision strikes was possible. These pilots dreamed of more humane ways to conduct wars. On page 127 of the hard copy, Gladwell got it backwards when he stated heavily laden B-29s headed for a Japan bombing run had to wait for a tailwind to be able to take off. This is history brought to life through the power of audio. Norden, LeMay, the Air force, DuPont, a complete range of personalities that created methods to make war much more effective, with the hope that this war would certainly be the last. Gladwell is a wonderful storyteller. Emphasizes just how technical breakthroughs are typically made use of in means they were not indicated. Anyone can read what you share. [21] The book debuted and peaked at number two on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction on May 16, 2021.[28]. To frame the book in this simplistic binary is to misconstrue the doctrines of both precision and area bombing". LeMay has taken over from Hansell and used napalm, resulting in markedly more success but also much greater destruction and killing of civilians. Would this audiobook be appropriate for a teen with an interest in military history? Ive read most of Gladwells books, but he always finds something new to tackle from a different angle. In his first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times. Some apps may require users to copy their URL and paste it directly into the app. "[26] Fedman and Karacas state "[w]ittingly or not, [Gladwell] omits or downplays evidence that undermines the very premise of the book. Things might have gone differently had LeMays predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. But it was news to me. In the late 1930s, they shared a philosophy that with the new Norden bombsight, bombing could be done more effectively, hitting the enemys vital military targets (called choke points). There are a lot of moral dilemmas to chew on here. What could be more American than the story of LeMay, a gruff, cigar-chewing Ohioan who made his way through the state university by working night shifts at a foundry? the moral challenges of modern american history. As for Vietnam, Johnson and Mcnamara screwed that up by NOT applying LeMay principals and the war should have been ended in 1965 , again saving many lives. His thinking was that it would be better to force the enemy to surrender early, as a prolonged war would cause more suffering. When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. >> and with one of our favorite guest. When he is introducing characters and showing them in conflict, The Bomber Mafia is gripping. Copyright 2023 Military.com. Copyright 2023 Free Audiobooks. 'The Bomber Mafia' Book Review - HistoryNet Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policys Top Global Thinkers. [5][6], The book follows the story of the Bomber Mafia, a group of American military officers, especially Major General Haywood S. Hansell, as they developed a military doctrine of daylight strategic bombing as a means to defeat an enemy with precision high-altitude aerial bombardment. His latest book, The Bomber Mafia, deals primarily with the philosophies of bombing during World War II, and has not become a best seller at least not yet. The logistics of sending thousands of men, tanks, artillery and supplies from the western side of Russia to the eastern Pacific side would have been virtually impossible. The Bomber Mafia follows the stories of a reclusive Dutch genius and his homemade computer, Winston Churchill's forbidding best friend, a team of pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard, a brilliant pilot who sang vaudeville tunes to his crew, and the bomber commander, Curtis Emerson LeMay, who would order the bloodiest attack of the Second World War. The podcast is called Revisionist History, and is excellent by the way. by . tags:Second world war, World War. War stories are a brand-new category for those utilized to Macolm Gladwells distinct brand of nonfiction. [7], To effect this doctrine, the United States Army Air Corps would need to expend the majority of its resources in amassing a fleet of self-defending heavy bombers, and in the training and maintenance of a great many airmen to fill aircrew and ground crew positions. The mission failed for several reasons, including clouds that obscured the targets, which had to be seen to use the Norden bombsight. [10] This especially applied with the aerial bombardment of Japan where previously unaccounted atmospheric conditions such as the jet stream seriously interfered with operations under Hansell's command. LeMay was instead, in the words of the military historian Conrad Crane, the Air Forces ultimate problem solver. As Gladwell tells it, the practical problem was how to win the war as quickly as possible. An exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war 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. This advancement of how warplanes were deployed is rather remarkable. Malcolm Gladwell and "The Bomber Mafia" | Video - PBS A novelty of this book is that Gladwell says it began as an audiobook and then became a written one, reversing the usual process. Regardless, it was estimated that there would have been 2 MILLION American casualties had there been an invasion. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 4.9 . NOW PLAYING. The war ended some 76 years ago. Kennedy stated there were "gaps in [Gladwell's] account", and cites the RAF Bomber Command's attempt at careful bombing as an example. Because even though his bombing caused more than 500,000 Japanese citizens to lose their lives, it prevented a land invasion which undoubtedly would have cost many more deaths than that.
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