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  • The Bomber Mafia

  • A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
  • By: Malcolm Gladwell
  • Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
  • Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (681 ratings)

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The Bomber Mafia cover art

The Bomber Mafia

By: Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
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Summary

In The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell, author of New York Times best sellers including Talking to Strangers and host of the podcast Revisionist History, uses original interviews, archival footage, and his trademark insight to weave 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. As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines 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 had a different view. This “Bomber Mafia” asked: What if precision bombing could, just by taking out critical choke points - industrial or transportation hubs - cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal?

In Revisionist History, Gladwell reexamines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In The Bomber Mafia, he employs all the production techniques that make Revisionist History so engaging, stepping back from the bombing of Tokyo, the deadliest night of the war, and asking, “Was it worth it?” The attack 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 more by averting a planned US invasion.

Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Hansell’s theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather and human error. 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.

©2021 Malcolm Gladwell (P)2021 Malcolm Gladwell
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

The Bomber Mafia is a parable written for the age of technological disruption.” (The Times, London)

"Gladwell is a wonderful storyteller. When he is introducing characters and showing them in conflict, The Bomber Mafia is gripping. I enjoyed this short book thoroughly, and would have been happy if it had been twice as long." (The New York Times)

“An innovative audio book with music, sound effects and archival clips. Gladwell’s easy conversational style works well, and his admiration for the Bomber Mafia shines through.” (The Washington Post)

What listeners say about The Bomber Mafia

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  • 03-05-21

A harrowing tale of an evolving dream

I couldn't stop listening, like a car crash in slow motion. The story is expertly told in the right format as hearing the interviews is wonderful.
My only complaint is how short it is!

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Great audible presentation

Felt a little disappointed at first here, as the book is short and I do listen to revoluionist history podcast so was already with some of the material.
But the presentation is really next generation audible entertainment, the angles in the narrative and the story telling is brilliant.

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Fantastic!

I absolutely loved listening to this book, so much so I actually listened to it twice.

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Fascinating, horrific, yet hugely thought provoking.

Confronting morality and the human condition in a manner that challenges both the aggressive and the high minded with no easy answers. I don't think I'd have got on with LeMay but is my sense of morality too narrow. Maybe but I don't like it!

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A captivating book from beginning to end

A captivating book from beginning to end.

I loved Gladwell’s last book, talking to strangers, and felt that this follow-up couldn’t possibly compare, but how wrong I was.

From start to finish, this was a compelling account of a part of history that is often neglected and unexplored. The best new book I have read of 2021 so far.

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Excellent

Engaging, thought provoking, excellent production. Finished in two days. An overlooked piece of history brought to life.

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All isn't fair in war

Sad one to read and questions Americans moral standards in war. Amazed that the Japanese saw it as a blessing for the war to end quicker

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Brilliant

I thoroughly enjoyed The Bomber Mafia. Very immersive, engaging and fascinating. Perfect for an audiobook.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Incredibly interesting, but incredibly flawed

This is well worth a listen, giving the audience an insight into the USAAF's formulation of strategic bombing doctrine and how its execution went from the attempt to "drop a bomb in the pickle barrel" to carpet bombing of cities. It is entertaining, insightful and the author gives us insights into the mind sets and thinking of those responsible for formulating bombing tactics, strategy and ideology.

However, despite that is fundamentally flawed, primarily by the omission of salient facts. The listener is led to believe that its submect matter, the bomber mafia, were drawing their conclusions in glorious isolation, divorced from the rest of the world. Billy Mitchell is not mentioned once, nor indeed does Giulio Douhet get even a nod. The primary belief, epitomised by Stanley Baldwin that "the bomber will always get through" (proven false in the early days of the Battle of Britain) is not mentioned, let alone challenged.

One is left with the notion that the thinking was rigid, unbending, formulated in the USA in the 20s and 30s and immutable, carved in stone. This proved not to be the case in historical fact but the listener would not know that from this book. The only US 8th AAF missions mentioned of note are the debacles of Schwienfurt/Regensburg in 1943, yet they had resulted from earlier difficulties and proved to inform future 8th AAF thinking - not the least of which was the change from making strategic bombing the focus to destroying the Luftwaffer "in the air and on the ground" paving the way for D-Day.

That said, there are areas of this audiobook are hugely illuminating - the trauma of flying the "Hump" springs to mind, the danger of flying aircraft across the Himalayas, and using 12 gallons of fuel to deliver 1 gallon are mind boggling, things that are rarely covered so insightfully in other histories.

Overall, I strongly advise anyone interested in strategic bombing to listen to this, but on no account treat it as a definitive piece and it must always be balanced by other conventional contextual histories.

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Live action audio book

I adore Gladwell and the addition of interviews and audio really enhances this book!

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