The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
Malcolm Gladwell
An exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of warIn 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. more
320 pages, Hardcover
First published Little, Brown and Company
4.03
Rating
50496
Ratings
5074
Reviews
Malcolm Gladwell
135 books 35465 followers
Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers—The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy's Top Global Thinkers.Community reviews
Malcolm Gladwell has a brand new book, and it’s different than his previous ones. You can easily tell this by its vibrant ocean-blue cover, which is quite a departure from the text-on-white-background style used on all his others. I have a love/indifference thing going with Gladwell. If he writes something, I’m going to listen to the audiobook of it, no question. Yet I end up rating each one 3 stars. more
(3. 5 stars. ) Probably Gladwell's weakest book -- the narrative itself is engaging, but the themes/ideas are confused and muddled, as ultimately the two schools of thought (LeMay the pragmatist vs. Hansell the idealist) are both true and also both in agreement. Gladwell's critique of Hansell's targeted attack on Germany's ball-bearing factories is in fact incorrect (Speer noted that the U. more
I read a few books by Malcolm Gladwell. He always tells stories behind a story, the real meaning of the story. Bombsight. What is that. I really don't know what is Bombsight and it relates to the military. more
مافیای بمب افکن نوشته مالکوم گلدول را می توان تقابل دو نوع نگاه و اندیشه دانست ، کرتیس له می و هیوود هنسل نماینده این دو نوع تفکرو بازیگران اصلی کتاب مافیای بمب افکن هستند . له می معتقد به راه انداختن جنگی تمام عیار و هدف قرار دادن شهرها و خانه ها برای نابود کردن ماشین جنگی دشمن در سریع ترین زمان ممکن و هنسل معتقد به اجتناب از بمباران مناطق مسکونی و به جای آن هدف قرار دادن مواضع صنعتی و کارخانه ها . داستان مافیای بمب افکن را باید داستان لحظه جانشینی له می با کرتیس دانست ، لحظه ای که در اصل یک تفکر بر تفکر دیگر پیروز شده ، همین لحظه بهانه ای به گلدول داده تا روایت های قبل و پس از آن را هم شرح دهد . هنسل را می توان نماد فردی مدرن دانست که اعتقاد دارد استفاده بهینه از تکنولوژی می تواند شکل جدیدی به جنگ دهد و دیگر نیازی به تلفات میلیونی نیست . تکنولوژی که هنسل قصد استفاده از آن را داشت دستگاه نشانه گیری بمب بود که با آن و طبق ادعای سازنده آن می توان یک بمب را از ارتفاع نه کیلومتری به داخل دبه ترشی انداخت . more
3. 5⭐This is my first Malcolm Gladwell book. Are all his audiobook this good. I mean WOW. I'm very impressed with the production; soundtrack, sound effects, radio clips, and interviews, I thought the TV was on in another room. more
This book totally obliterated my long held perceptions of the war in the Pacific. I would have preferred to listen to the book as it was originally a podcast. Since my library only had the book version, I decided to jump on the hold list and consume the information in that format. From the very beginning, Gladwell sets up the contrast between Haywood Hansell and Curtis LeMay. Both were generals and helped develop our Air Force from the ground up. more
I chose this book (an advance reading copy), from NetGalley believing it was a fictional thriller set in the Pacific theatre of World War II. How wrong was I, but in a blink of an eye I had a book I couldn’t put down. This is an account of a group of senior minds in the USA airforce who became fixated on precision bombing to reduce innocent civilian casualties and hasten the end of conflict by strategically bombing factories and war production vital for your enemy’s ability to continue to fight on. This was a group of obsessive but influential men who wanted to avoid the British approach at all costs as their aircrews were trained with computer like bombsights, and needed to raid in clear skies from high attitude. I did know that the British bombed at night while the Americans seemed to have the more dangerous daytime raids over Germany. more
The deadliest raid of WWII, what led up to it and who was involved. This was a stunning but entertaining audio books, one I probably wouldn't have picked up if it wasn't written by Gladwell. Just not a subject I seem out, nor do I think I would have liked it as much had I read. The Audio features music, sound effects, spoken archival interviews, even one by Ronald Reagan and Gladwell's voice was perfect for the narration. Norden, LeMay, the Air force, DuPont, a full range of characters that invented ways to make war more effective, with the hope that this war would be the last. more
For the love of Mohamed, Jesus, and Rabbi Bernstein, why doesn’t this guy just write a history book and leave out his outlandishly stupid theories. He’s a talented writer, but why does he go outside his area of expertise. Builder argued that you cannot understand how the three main branches of the American military behave and make decisions unless you understand how different their cultures are. And to prove this point, Builder said, just look at the chapels on each of the service academy campuses. Gladwell never bothers to ask why a military academy in a secular nation needs to build a house of worship in the first place. more
Can you have a more moral war. After the carnage of WWI, some people believed that the use of precision bombing (the destruction of specific military targets, munitions factories, etc. ) could limit the deaths of both soldiers and civilians and shorten WWII. This book explores the scientists and flyers who tried (and failed) to successfully employ precision bombing and the men who believed that blanket bombing, such as that used in the London Blitz, the bombing of Dresden and the napalm bombing of Japan, would ultimately shorten the war. The technology was just not advanced enough at that time to make precision bombing feasible. more
I've enjoyed all the Malcolm Gladwell books I've ever read . until now. Maybe because this isn't really a book at all — it's a glorified podcast. "The Bomber Mafia" just failed to interest me. Maybe it's because this is very much focused on a particular episode of military history, and I've never really been a military history kind of guy, or maybe it's because this is just really, really dry until around the final 30 minutes or so. more
I have in the past read and thoroughly enjoyed pieces by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker, I have listened to and enjoyed his podcasts and I pre-ordered this book with great anticipation thinking that I would learn a different side to a subject I have read much about. I have never been so disappointed in the purchase of a book. This book centers on the Bomber Mafia, a group of aviators who developed a theory, widely shared, that war could be conducted by way air combat with little need for the widespread bloody trench warfare and death of emblematic of WW I. To the extent that there can be hope for a civilized war, these folks had it. And it was shared by all of the allies prior to and at the outset of WWII. more
"Without persistence, principles are meaningless. Because one day your dream may come true. And if you cannot keep that dream alive in teh interim, then who are you. " War stories are a new genre for those used to Macolm Gladwell's unique brand of nonfiction. And yet, this book is something that keeps you invested as it is presented as a bit more than a piece of history. more
A glib and anecdotal gesture at understanding the practical and moral issues of aerial bombing, especially against civilian targets. There are many better and deeper studies of both issues. It doesn’t give a cogent summary of air force tactics (on all sides) in WWII including the basic fact that the British turned to night, area bombing because daytime precision bombing was too inaccurate and dangerous. Gladwell to the contrary, Churchill’s pal Prof. Lindemann had little to do with it - he was an interfering crank and busybody who, like his boss, was enthralled with sideshows and gimmicks - as both the British (and the USA) started planning in the 1930s to bomb civilians. more
Malcolm Gladwell goes all historical in his newest book, The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, a Cheese Sandwich Left Uneaten, and the Longest Night of the Second World War. During this global skirmish, airplane technology advanced dramatically, and many idealistic military thinkers believed that the ability to do precision bombing would make warfare much less lethal. As many would say, the newfangled bombsite now equipped in the basic package of all U. S bombers would enable “a bombardier to drop a bomb into a pickle barrel from six miles up. ” Honestly, this confused me. more
I listened to this as an audiobook, and it was a fantastic experience: so much archival audio, so many interesting sound effects. Like much of Malcolm Gladwell's work, this is a book about unintended consequences: how a bombsight, clouds, and the Jet Stream, (among other factors) turned the idea of using bombers to MINIMIZE civilian casualties in World War Two to one of using bombers to MAXIMIZE civilian casualties. The story is riveting and horrifying at once. And Gladwell's analysis, as always, will leave you pondering so many "what if's. ". more
با اتفاقاتی که در جریانه دیگه حس و حال ریویو نوشتن هم ندارم. فعلا کل توانم رو توییتره. در همین حد بگم که کتاب خوبی بود. ارزش خواندن داره. more
I have the impression that it is somewhat gauche to say that Malcolm Gladwell's new book is really good. It is more impressive for a person who is reviewing a book to tell you that some author you've never heard of, or who is not widely read, has written a really good new book. Malcolm Gladwell is way too successful to give one any hipster satisfaction when saying it is really good. But, you know, it's really good. Gladwell has said in interviews that he doesn't think a book is usually going to change what a person thinks about an issue, but it can help to cause the reader to think about an issue. more
Because airpower was young, the faculty of the Tactical School was young — in their twenties and thirties, full of the ambition of youth. They got drunk on the weekends, flew warplanes for fun, and raced each other in their cars. Their motto was: Proficimus more irretenti: “We make progress unhindered by custom. ” The leaders of the Air Corps Tactical School were labeled “the Bomber Mafia. ” It was not intended as a compliment — these were the days of Al Capone and Lucky Luciano and shoot-outs on the streets. more
[ Cross-posted to the Nicola Bramwell Blog ] I don’t read much in the way of military history, but I saw this book floating around on Goodreads and Twitter, so I decided to borrow it from the library when I spotted it on the new nonfiction shelf. I only have rudimentary knowledge about the military strategies and campaigns of World War II, so I went into this book with few preconceived notions about the history of air combat and bombings. Overall, I found this book pretty informative. It’s not a very long book, but it covers all the essential tidbits regarding the development of air bombing and the various bombing strategies attempted by the Allies throughout WWII. It introduces the people who were key to the different bombing strategies tried in Europe and Japan, the successes and the failures, and the technology (or lack thereof) that determined which strategies ultimately worked best to shorten the war, particularly the Pacific theater. more
Gyönyörű, letisztult ismeretterjesztő próza ez, amely szűk keresztmetszetét vizsgálja a második világháborúnak: az amerikai bombázóhadviselést. Sőt, még így is túl tágan fogalmaztam, mert Gladwellt valójában egyetlen dolog érdekli az egész pokoli karneválból: a bombázóstratégák ideáinak összecsapása. Ez a - mondjuk úgy - szakmai szemellenző oda vezet, hogy például szó sem esik a kötetben a Mustang vadászgépről, holott valószínűleg sokkal inkább döntőnek számított, mint a számos gyermekbetegséggel küzdő Norden-féle célzóberendezés, amiről a szerző oly sok szót ejt. De ha ezzel megbarátkozunk, azt vesszük észre, hogy a csekély terjedelemben, mint dióban a bél, egy kiugróan mély, inspiráló fejtegetés rejtőzik. Ami a bombázóstratégiák összecsapását illeti: az egész az idealistákkal kezdődött. more
The Bomber Mafia is an exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war in which bestselling history writer Malcolm Gladwell 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 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 aeroplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, The Bomber Mafia, had a different view. They 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 re-examines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. more
Very interesting, light fun and quick read about WWII with a focus on bomber technology and how it affected the war. I hadn't realized what an interesting innovation the Norden bombsight was, how complicated it was, and how it's promise to "Be able to hit a pickle barrel from 10,000 feet" went so largely unfilled. Also fascinating that Napalm was invented in WWII and used extensively in Japan to win the war, before the nuclear bombs. . more
This book gets a solid "Meh" from me. Mainly, I had some issues with his thesis which starts out with a group of idealists termed the "Bomber Mafia" who sought to use technology such as the novel bomb-sights, to carry out precision bombing while minimizing innocent loss of life. This, of course, was in direct opposition to the bombing philosophy of Curtis Lemay, who believed in area bombing and the destruction of civilian targets in order to obliterate the enemy's morale. He was the brain behind the firebombing of Tokyo, which killed thousands indiscriminately. Now, if you name the book after the "good-guys" i. more
This is basically a long episode of his podcast. Which, fine, but it shouldn't have been a book. It doesn't *feel* like a Gladwell book- it feels like an episode of Revisionist History. And a third of the book being clips did not work for me - the audio quality is usually poor so I would rather the author just read the quote in most cases. I think Gladwell got a little too into using direct clips in the podcast and is blurring the lines too much here - a book should have a lot more from the author themself. more
This is not the typical psychological deep dive as all of Malcolm's previous books. It was more like a neat project that he was always interested in so he researched it and decided to share it. If you are interested in the World Wars, Planes, Bomber planes, precision bombing, strategic initiatives, progress, then this book is for you. The book does provide some thought provoking topics that make you think psychologically, philosophically, and morally. I think the most interesting thing for me was how difficult it was to bomb precisely if at all. more
I'll give this one by Malcolm Gladwell 4 stars, but it's actually 3. 5. His book is about the US bomber campaigns in WWII, a topic I have some interest in, having read a lot about WWII, both fiction and non-fiction. He posits a conflict between idealistic strategists he calls "the Bomber Mafia" and the "brutal pragmatism" as represented by Gen. Curtis LeMay. more
Malcolm Gladwell deviates a bit from his usual social psychology book to get a bit more historical. The book focuses on several inventions in the early 1900s that were intended to be used for good, but in the face of war, there were unintended uses of each of them. The focus of the book is the debate over precision bombing, which at the time of WWII, had not yet been perfected. Could the bombing of specific targets be just as harmful if not more than carpet bombing, which was more prominent at the time. I listened to this on audiobook with Gladwell himself narrating. more
Closer to 3. 5. This was interesting and painted a broader picture of the problems, strategies and solutions to bombing warfare in Germany and Japan during the Second World War. He begins with a thought experiment by a group of men nicknamed the Bomber mafia who theorized that if you could bomb crucial choke points it would incapacitate your enemy’s ability to wage war on you, such as specific factories making necessary parts that were vital to building engines. You would then reduce casualties to your men and to civilians, something that had taken such a huge toll during the First World War. more
A deep dive into a forgotten issue from WWII through the eyes of two men - Haywood Hansell and Curtis LaMay. The question - do you save lives by shrinking war, or by expanding it. As always with Gladwell the best parts are the fascinating nuggets he digs up during his extensive research - the history of the Norden bomb site, the 1936 flood in Pittsburgh that started a domino effect halting airplane production and launching the “chokepoint” theory, the Americans discovering the existence of the Jet Stream at the exact worst time, the air route over the Himalayas known as “The Hump” or “The Aluminum Trail” because of all the planes that crashed. more