There was never going to be a land invasion of Japan, I know that that possibility was used to justify nuking them, but I also know that president Truman was not going to be the CIC that sent hundreds of thousands to die for something that patience and strategy could preclude. by . [15] At the time the book was released, a modern B-2 Stealth Bomber could approach a target without being detected on radar from 40,000 feet in altitude. In spite of the horrifying damage inflicted by napalm bombs, many Japanese believed theyre what caused the government to surrender. 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. Along with the bombing this was a key factor in Japans decision to surrender. Through Ashley Gutermuth's many military moves, she has learned to flip circumstances around to find the humor, and the President Joe Biden awarded the commander-in-chief trophy to the Air Force Academy for winning football games against its At the end of the day, "Minecraft Legends" has some compelling elements that unfortunately don't feel fleshed out. I immediately thought, Oh yeah? Developed over the years 19261929 at Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) at Langley Field in Virginia, a forward-looking doctrine of daylight precision bombing was promulgated by Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell who advocated a greatly expanded role for the bomber force. 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 Curtis Lemay as well as Haywood Hansell are opposite ends of a range in the high adrenaline battle Flying force. Thank you for purchasing The Bomber Mafia, an audiobook by Malcolm Gladwell. They had and have no oil or other energy natural resources, their cities and industries would have suffered greatly. The book follows the Bomber Mafia, especially Major General Haywood S. Hansell, and the development of a high-altitude precision aerial bombardment strategy in World War II as a means to limit casualties. And then another. [13], Other opposition was more subtle. One historian tells the author that Hansell was not the kind of man who was willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people. [17] Hansell wrote: It was recognized that fighter escort was inherently desirable, but no one could quite conceive how a small fighter could have the range of the bomber yet retain its combat maneuverability. Or the soldier in a minefield whose buddy is bleeding to death? The British strategy was known as area bombing, which amounted to creating as much damage as possible over a wide area. This ferocious approach may have helped end the war, but there is no question that it was horrible. Please check back soon for future events. He was hardly a theorist, and especially not someone out to make war more humane. [7] This could lead to a minimum of war-time casualties with new technology such as the Norden bombsight. Things might have gone differently had LeMays predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. (For the Japanese the atom bomb was just a more effective way to bomb them, some watching they were used to.) The war ended some 76 years ago. 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 4.7 (8,338 ratings) Try for $0.00 Pick 1 title (2 titles for Prime members) from our collection of bestsellers and new releases. Starting in 2022, Starbucks is expanding its Veterans Day freebie to include an additional product: iced coffee. 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. Sen. Amy Klobuchar Talks the G7 Summit. Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. Yes, it would have caused millions to starve and die but the invasion alternative would have caused millions of allied lives. The ACTS officers who believed in the heavy bomber doctrine realized that any other Air Corps expenditures such as for tactical bombers and fighter aircraft would take away from the proposed large fleet of heavy bombers. After the undeniable horrors of the Great War, a group of Army Air Corps generals spent much of the 1930s brainstorming ways to use airpower to make war bombing more strategic while keeping casualties to a minimum. there is a link to purchase . Do you know if the book had more/different material than the podcast? They failed. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Hansells theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather and human error. [8] In that regard, this was at odds with Britain's Royal Air Force' doctrine of area bombing under the command of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris. Overall casualties in the war were not minimal, and victory did not come significantly more quickly. Your email address will not be published. Those are exactly the same, but there's a lot more to the book. The nascent, emerging and the ambitious force that . While one is a celebrated hero, the other was an idealist whose concepts allowed him to be sidelined in the annals of background. [27] Ricks calls LeMay an "unexpected hero" of the story,[22] while McConnachie cites Hansell as Gladwell's hero. But I dont think the ghost of LeMay can be put to rest so easily. Once Japan became secluded on their mainland why not just create a complete blockade of the whole nation? So it is probably too early, far too early, to believe that wide-area, city-destroying attacks that kill large numbers of civilians have become a horror only of the past. I thought he was pretty thorough but obviously if he's written a book he must have thought it worthy of a more even in depth look. Malcolm Gladwell The Bomber Mafia Audiobook Online. 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. In Chapters 4 and 5, Gladwell provides background about Hansell and LeMay, and outlines the Americans bombing mission on Germanys ball-bearing factories, led by Hansell with LeMay a participant. For the first few years, the strongest voice at ACTS against the bomber doctrine was Captain (later General) George C. Kenney who called for the use of air power to attack enemy fighting units on the ground. Perfect tinder for firebombing. [14] Because of his lower rank, he was in no position to challenge the bomber mafia, and instead strove to work around their restrictions on pursuit aircraft. Napalm is a gel that when it explodes, blows large clumps of fiery hot substance that sticks to every substance and burns brightly for several minutes. Gladwell argues that LeMays savage firebombing campaign succeeded, and that, combined with the two atomic bombs that followed, shortened the war. He advocated the close coordination of air and ground forces, with an emphasis on medium bombers and fighter bombers. [4] He devoted four episodes of the fifth season of Revisionist History to air power in World War II, and stated the audiobook served as an expansion of material from the podcast. [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]. As an expert in the use of air units to aid artillery and infantry, Gordon P. Saville held to the concept of tactical air power through his time as ACTS instructor from 1934 to 1936. This was in the 1930s, the era of the bomber, a new breed of aircraft that could supposedly drop a bomb from six miles up and land it in a pickle barrel. Most military thinkers in the . Many historians posit that the primary reason for Japanese surrender was not the use of the atom bomb. In the first chapter, Gladwell introduces Carl Norden, inventor of the Norden bombsight, the first sight that allowed bombs to accurately hit their target. [23], Writing for The Baffler, Noah Kulwin criticized the book as "an attempt to retcon the history of American aerial warfare by arguing that developing the capacity to explode anything, anywhere in the world has made America and, indeed, the rest of the globe, unequivocally safer" and stated "by taking up military history, Gladwell's half-witted didacticism threatens to convince millions of people that the only solution to American butchery is to continue shelling out for sharper and larger knives. The Listeners Guide is only available from Pushkin Industries when you buy The Bomber Mafia. Anyone can read what you share. LeMay has taken over from Hansell and used napalm, resulting in markedly more success but also much greater destruction and killing of civilians. He flew in at 5,000 feet elevation, which was under the jet stream, and under the altitude at which Japanese antiaircraft weapons were effective. After graduating from ACTS in 1931, Mitchell protge Harold L. George stayed at the school to refine and teach the new bombing theory, soon recruiting as teachers his former students Haywood S. Hansell, Donald Wilson and Laurence S. Kuter as fellow bomber advocates. Part one on the extraordinary life of the Air Force General Curtis LeMay. This was not a standalone event. Didnt have it in his soul. After a few months in command of the B-29 raids on Japan, Hansell was dismissed and replaced by LeMay, who was told to come up with a new plan. Malcom Gladwells book Talking to Strangers is a very good book that ties together The most compelling account is the clash of ideas and the practical options sought to fight on a distant enemy. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Much of the book concerns the technical and practical aspects of the Norden bombsight, in a 'grown-ups arguing' sort of way. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy. [] Hansell won the war". Guide begins with a very genuine trouble. His thinking was that it would be better to force the enemy to surrender early, as a prolonged war would cause more suffering. Failure to see this issue through proved one of the Air Corps Tactical School's major shortcomings.[18]. The straightforward location of how Japan was merely outside the range of bombers. In that sense, Gladwell wrote that Hansell "won the war."[21][22]. Copyright 2023 Free Audiobooks. LeMay was allowed to kill civilians by the tens of thousands because he had a theory about morale among the populace, which never came close to a conclusion. in the program we will take some of your questions. Restricted in scope, short in play time, I located this believed prompting. As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Malcolm Gladwell - The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War Audiobook. The B-29s were capable of making the 3,000+ mile round trip from Guam to Japan. 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). Gladwell is a wonderful storyteller. Highly recommend it. Bomber Mafia Daylight precision-bombing advocates Carl A. Spaatz, Muir S. Fairchild and Donald M. Wilson at Maxwell Air Force Base in 1946 The Bomber Mafia were a close-knit group of American military men who believed that long-range heavy bomber aircraft in large numbers were able to win a war. [2] The Bomber Mafia was gradually replaced in the 1950s and 1960s by advocates of intercontinental ballistic missile warfare. By dropping bombs with precision onto strategic targets, Hansell believed wars could be won faster and with far less . The print has its merits of being able to take your time to know the history of . [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. No new apps to download, no subscription fees. In the end, the book's central flaw resides at the core of Gladwell's supposed greatest strength. The next chapter details the pilots at the Air Corps Tactical School in Alabama who were known as the Bomber Mafia. And because we dont know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with The State of Journalism on World Press Freedom Day. [2] Precision in bombing was not achieved until long-range fighter escorts became available and air superiority was achieved, as opponents had warned. The words "Bomber Mafia" refer to a group of American pilots in the 1930s stationed at what was then called Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama. [2] In November 1932 when British Lord President of the Council Stanley Baldwin said "the bomber will always get through", he was talking about the terror bombing of cities. Emergency workers and local residents battled to clear debris and extinguish fires in the Ukrainian city of Uman after Two U.S. army helicopters collided and crashed Thursday in Alaska while returning from a training flight, killing three soldiers 89-year-old Max Hancock was an U.S. airman stationed outside of Oxford, England, in 1953. But when Gladwell leaps to provide superlative assessments, or draws broad lessons of history from isolated incidents, he makes me wary. Those are exactly the same, but there's a lot more to the book. [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. By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Groups Privacy Policy 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). The unexpected hero of Gladwells story is Curtis LeMay yes, that one, the general who firebombed Tokyo and dozens of other Japanese cities and then, decades later, supposedly advocated bombing the Vietnamese back into the Stone Age. This book is so much extra; not just filling up a few spaces in my understanding but educating me, simply exactly how little I understood about the altering role of the airforce. During World War II, some of these pilots became major decision makers. Fortunately for LeMay, there was another new technology on the horizon. Another example: Gladwell calls the firebombing of Tokyo on March 9 and 10, 1945, the longest night of the war. This unfortunate phrase, this unproven superlative, is repeated in the books unwieldy subtitle. Maybe so. The United States had already completely cut off Japans oil supplies and pipelines by the middle of 1944/beginning of 1945, and decimated their navy. Gladwell begins the story in the Introduction in January 1945, on the Mariana Islands. Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? We have updated our Privacy Policy In one day in March, 1945, more than 400 B-29s totally burned 16 square miles of Tokyo killing far more than 100,000 people. 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. In his first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times. Relevance; Rating; Price (Ascending) Most Recent; View: Filter. In The Bombing plane Mafia, he hones in on a specific period of history. They believed that bombing strategic targets made sense, and bombing population centers didnt. [6] Though unproven, the major attraction of this sort of strategic bombing doctrine was that a war was expected to be won relatively quickly, with minimal casualties, and that grinding, static trench warfare as seen in World War I could be avoided. James Grosjean Strategy Cards (ShopLVA Exclusive), Las Vegas Advisor Membership + Member Rewards, Other Games, Weird Rules, Promos, Side Bets, Podcast - former surveillance operator Junior. Later, Saville successfully implemented his ideas in the Mediterranean Theater. Rather than focus on industrial or military targets, the napalm bombs spewed all over cities, destroying housing and killing civilians in a most devastating way. 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. The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War is a 2021 book by Malcolm Gladwell that examines the US Bomber Mafia of World War II, which advocated precision aerial bombing as a means to win a war. The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War is a nonfiction book by Malcolm Gladwell, published in 2021. And was engrossed once again. General Haywood Hansell is being relieved from overseeing the 21st Bomber Command, to be replaced by General Curtis LeMay. If you have actually ever attempted to toss a can from a moving automobile into a whip can you would understand the math/physics behind it. Perhaps bombing debate this is old hat to many of my readers. LeMay would have no place in a modern air force, his outdated and shallow, callous theories are now considered war crimes, we will never do it again, and we will never sit back and watch it happen somewhere else. Contact Us | The book concludes that "LeMay won the battle. [4][5] In contrast, American theorists devised a strategy of pin-point bombing that targeted the enemy economy and the production of weapons. A sixth hit the number 3 engine, setting it on fire. You will be emailed a confirmation with the link to the audiobook or you can login with your email addresshere. 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. General Haywood Hansell was the leader of The Bomber Mafia, a small group within the military that believed an emerging technologyairborne warfarecould make wars shorter and far less deadly. Is this book appropriate for an 11-year old that reads a lot WW II history and fiction books? This notion that killing someones family and friends will lead them to surrender is bunk, all it does is motivate people to hate you forever And the Japanese Government of the post war era was a puppet of our military, the notion that a proud people would hail a man who rained fiery death indiscriminately from the sky because they figured maybe less died this way is specious drivel in my opinion. Many years later a related term "Fighter Mafia" described those within the Air Force that favored lightweight fighters good at dog-fighting instead of heavy missile-firing fighters. You get lower prices, too, because nobody had to build a fancy new app. The object of war is to destroy the enemy which LeMay understood very well, their morale had nothing to do with it, and ultimately saved millions of lives on both sides due to a invasion not having to happen. Malcolm Gladwells new book and audiobook The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation and the Longest Night of the Second World War digs deep into one of the lesser-known rivalries of the war, the one between Brig. All Rights Reserved. There are a lot of moral dilemmas to chew on here. 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. The US Bomber Mafia agreed with Baldwin only in that the bomber would prevail in its mission. Suggestions, Fan Mail, Bones to Pick, and All Other Queries, For Speaking Engagements With Malcolm Gladwell. Content Warning: The source text contains historical quotations that use offensive terms for Japanese people. I would have been bored with this when I was 11--likely he would be, too. Guide because backdrop is a story of optimism. By subscribing to Pushkin+ or purchasing an audiobook, you are agreeing to be bound by Pushkins Terms of Service and Privacy Policies and to be added to Pushkins mailing list. The imposter foods ought to additionally be moved up on the bomb listing. LeMay believed that the campaign was so effective that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 werent even necessary, because his campaign already had made clear the price if Japan declined to surrender. Unanswered Questions (2) Because of a review from one of the Goodread friends, I decided to take on the audiobook, instead of the print/e-book version. Reader Q&A, Chapter 3 is about the British and American bombing campaign against Germany in 1943. 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? WATCH SEGMENT. If the Allied forces had been forced to invade Japan, the country likely would have been split up by the Soviets and Americans after the war, and the casualties are almost impossible to imagine. The book is adapted from a series of podcasts Gladwell created for his show Revisionist History. However I really did not recognize why this publication merely discusses why this was the status quo. Tap the link to open your audiobook purchase in your podcast app. WATCH SEGMENT. 1. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. 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. 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. These pilots dreamed of more humane ways to conduct wars. Its proponents continued to promote the doctrine into the Atomic Age, forming the Strategic Air Command to carry out a vision modified to fit the needs of the Cold War and the threat of nuclear warfare. The villain, or at least loser in this account, is another Air Force general, Haywood Hansell, who had tried to win the war in the Pacific through the precision-bombing of Japan. Scientists at Harvard repurposed a failed Dupont Chemical product and refined it into napalm, the most brutal bombing tool devised before the atomic bomb and one particularly suited to cause maximum damage to the wood-and-paper houses of Japan. Purchase the audiobook by using the form on an audiobook page. or ask your favorite author a question with To implement these changes, the ACTS instructors began to instill a sense in their students that a separate and independent air arm of the type described earlier by Mitchell, to be called the United States Air Force, was the way forward. If LeMay firebombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the loss of life would have been similar as to what the atomic bombs caused without the radiation. The Bomber Mafia were a close-knit group of American military men who believed that long-range heavy bomber aircraft in large numbers were able to win a war. [14], After the 1991 Gulf War, David L. Goldfein states that by then bombs could hit, with precision, a specific wing of a building. The problem here was there above Japan there was a 140 mph (125 knot) jet stream, which played havoc with the bomb sight and precision bombing. It's pretty much about the history of how the military went from ground wars to air wars and theoretically . The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War is a nonfiction book by Malcolm Gladwell, published in 2021. THE BOMBER MAFIAA Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World WarBy Malcolm Gladwell. You can pay with any major credit cards, as well as Apple Pay on iOS and Google Pay on Android. you can submit them using the q&a button. 4.9 . 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. . The audiobook is an experience in itself, complete with sound results, music, and old interviews from the men he profiles (and also several of their battles survivors). For customer support, contact help@supportingcast.fm. The last chapter deals with the end of the war, as Gladwell examines the moral issues involved in LeMays actions and whether they were justified in the circumstances. I just re-listened to Gladwell's podcast on Curtis LeMay and the Bomber Mafia. Since I had the ability to concentrate on guide as a historical message, I had much more success following along. All rights reserved. But rather Russias entry into the war and their invasion into Japanese-held Manchuria. Take those in the hazardous category such as the spikey pineapple or a horned melon. Hansell was not the moral opposite of LeMay. InRevisionist History, Gladwell re-examines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. [16], The book was met with mixed reviews upon release, with four mixed reviews, one positive review, three pan reviews, and two rave reviews as of November14, 2021[update] according to review aggregator Book Marks. They believed that war could thus be waged more humanely because collateral damage, including civilian deaths, could be minimized and wars ended faster. 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. Members of the "Bomber Mafia" produced the two airpower war plans (AWPD-1 and AWPD-42) that guided the wartime expansion and deployment of the Army Air Forces. The destruction was so far beyond anything theyd seen before that the reality of the reports coming in from American bases in the Mariana Islands just didnt register. This guide is based on the hardcover first edition. Gladwell is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including The Tipping Point, Outliers, David and Goliath, and this book. [1][2][3] In 2016, Gladwell started Revisionist History, a history-focused podcast that "re-examines something from the past an event, a person, an idea, even a song and asks whether we got it right the first time". The calculation is based on fuel vs weight vs resistance so tailwind wins. The pilot kept flying.. That Japanese cities were bombed beyond those I found out about, in a fashion I rarely want to picture. After the war, the 20 years of foundational work by the bomber mafia resulted in the separation of the United States Air Force from the Army to become an independent military arm.
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