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. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. Do you know if the book had more/different material than the podcast? (For the Japanese the atom bomb was just a more effective way to bomb them, some watching they were used to.) Malcolm Gladwell and "The Bomber Mafia" | Video - PBS Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to one another that isnt true? The US Bomber Mafia agreed with Baldwin only in that the bomber would prevail in its mission. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we dont know. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The Bomber Mafia began as an audiobook, and later transitioned into a print book. Had the war gone on longer, into the winter of 1945-46, he suggests, millions of Japanese could have died of starvation. Overall casualties in the war were not minimal, and victory did not come significantly more quickly. As a compromise first step, the General Headquarters (GHQ) Air Force was established within the Army Air Corps in 1935, commanded by General Frank M. Andrews, a strategic bombing advocate. . Supported apps include: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocketcasts, Podcast Addict, Castbox, BeyondPod, Downcast, PlayerFM, Breaker, and RadioPublic. 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. 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. Yet the issue the Bombing plane Mafia was attempting to fix has both physics as well as moral angles. Later, Saville successfully implemented his ideas in the Mediterranean Theater. 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. 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. Captain Claire Lee Chennault, senior instructor in fighter tactics at ACTS, was a vocal Air Corps officer who challenged the bomber mafia for more than a decade; he was forced into early retirement in 1937, leaving the precision bombing advocates unopposed. The rest of the book focuses on the Pacific Theater during the last two years of the war. Yup, thats right! By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Groups Privacy Policy NOW PLAYING. [23], Several reviewers criticized the book for its accuracy, and for being light on details. And then they did the same thing to another city. (Gladwell partly excuses this notorious phrase, saying it was likely the work of a ghostwriter.) The notion that we were ever going to tolerate a land invasion of Japan is simply not true, we could have cut them off and let their cities crumble. The mission failed for several reasons, including clouds that obscured the targets, which had to be seen to use the Norden bombsight. Block buster films have actually made World War II seem even more actual and technically skilled in all things armed forces yet this book was needed for me to grasp the relevance of war in the 1940s. Gladwell stated the audiobook for The Bomber Mafia came about as an expansion of material from his podcast Revisionist History, and that the print book originated from the audiobook. His thinking was that it would be better to force the enemy to surrender early, as a prolonged war would cause more suffering. Was Henry Stimson, Franklin Roosevelts secretary of war, truly responsible, more than anyone, for the extraordinary war machine that the United States built in the early years of the Second World War? by . The Bomber Mafia | Pushkin Industries There is nothing 'inappropriate' in the book, it is simply not about battles and actions. Those are exactly the same, but there's a lot more to the book. The kind of indiscriminate destruction that LeMay used to win the war is absolutely a thing of the past, at least for American forces. [18][19][20] James McConnachie of The Times stated "for a book that is not a war story, this one is brilliantly, brilliantly told". 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 The Bombing plane Mafia, he hones in on a specific period of history. ", He released a couple chapters from this book as episodes of Revisionist History. There are a lot of moral dilemmas to chew on here. After the war, LeMay was given a high medal by the Japanese government. The straightforward location of how Japan was merely outside the range of bombers. Kenney left ACTS in 1929, and heavy bomber doctrinarians filled the vacancy. The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War Buy on Bookshop Little Brown and Company, 256 pp., $27.00 The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the. We could have surrounded their ports, mined their harbors, Japan has no energy natural resources, that is why they invaded Maylaysia and the Borneo oil fields. Nixon tried the LeMay strategy in North Vietnam, and we all know how that ended. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell (Audiobook Excerpt) Most military thinkers in the . [24] DeGroot said "the subject demands more depth than this volume provides", and stated Gladwell boiled down the bombing strategy's evolution to personality clashes between Hansell and LeMay while ignoring other major factors, such as how the morality and acceptance of bombing evolved. 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. Perhaps bombing debate this is old hat to many of my readers. They believed that bombing strategic targets made sense, and bombing population centers didn't. 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. [] Hansell won the war". [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. The new discount program will be accessed through the exchange stores or websites, not Home Depot locations. This ferocious approach may have helped end the war, but there is no question that it was horrible. If yo. Curtis LeMays approach brought everyone Americans and Japanese back to peace and prosperity as quickly as possible, he writes. Malcolm Gladwells The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War is a kind of love song to the United States Air Force, which is surprising, because it is the least romantic of our armed services, with leaders who focus on technology, not tradition. 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. Take those in the hazardous category such as the spikey pineapple or a horned melon. T H E B O M B E R M A FI A. l i ste n er's g u i de ma lc o l m g l a d w e l l Thank you for purchasing Malcolm Gladwell's The Bomber Mafia.. 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. 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 In the first chapter, Gladwell introduces Carl Norden, inventor of the Norden bombsight, the first sight that allowed bombs to accurately hit their target. We won the war when we did because our aircraft carriers were luckily out of Pearl Harbor when it was invaded, we were never going to lose but our task would have become daunting if we had to re-build our aircraft carrier fleet in my opinion Germany invaded Russia for its oil, oil was and is the commodity needed for modern militaries, Your email address will not be published. However, the doctrine nonetheless became the foundation for the separation of the Air Force from the Army, and the basis for modern airpower theory. The setting is Second World War. Gen. Haywood Hansell and Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay about the best way to bomb Japan in hopes of ending the war in late 1944 and early 1945. These pilots dreamed of more humane ways to conduct wars. 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. Following numerous casualties from ground warfare in World war, a group people army males focused on producing a bombing system that would certainly be so . A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. This was a team of obsessive however significant men who wanted to prevent the British approach in any way prices as their aircrews were trained with computer system like bombsights, and also needed to plunder in clear skies from high mindset. 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. A fourth shell hit the cockpit, taking out the planes hydraulic system. 'The Bomber Mafia' review: Malcolm Gladwell tries a deep - The Star A small number of apps may require users to copy their URL and paste it directly into the app. 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). He and several friends decided People have been flocking to the Egypt-Sudan border to escape the violence from two Sudanese rival forces despite a South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged still-more strengthening of the U.S.-led security alliance guarding against nuclear-armed North Korea One fun way to see the world and visit unique locations is on a cruise ship. Show Description. [1] Hansell concurred that both the theorists and the authors of the AWPD-1 war plan (of which he was both) made a serious mistake in neglecting long-range fighter escort in their ideas. 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. The strategic bombing concept, however, was a major factor in the eventual victory and became the first core doctrine of the independent United States Air Force. I have read up on LeMay, he did in fact tout a theory that killing civilians by carpet bombing was a winning strategy, that it would destroy the morale of the citizenry. 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. I immediately thought, Oh yeah? Following numerous casualties from ground warfare in World war, a group people army males focused on producing a bombing system that would certainly be so exact that it could get really specific targets that would cripple enemies while decreasing human loss. During World War II, some of these pilots became major decision makers. Listener's Guide: The Bomber Mafia | Pushkin Industries By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy. 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. By stream But when Gladwell leaps to provide superlative assessments, or draws broad lessons of history from isolated incidents, he makes me wary. Ive read most of Gladwells books, but he always finds something new to tackle from a different angle. The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effects predicts sociologists and sports psychologists would say the same for his . 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. [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 Listeners Guide features additional commentary from, Suggestions, Fan Mail, Bones to Pick, and All Other Queries, For Speaking Engagements With Malcolm Gladwell, Hasta la Vista, America: Trumps Farewell Address, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. [4][5] In contrast, American theorists devised a strategy of pin-point bombing that targeted the enemy economy and the production of weapons. Anyone can read what you share. Gladwell steps back from the bombing of Tokyo, the deadliest night of the war, and asks, 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. Gladwell raises two fascinating points. The Bomber Mafia Reader Q&A - Goodreads 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. No new apps to download, no subscription fees. Yes. Since I had the ability to concentrate on guide as a historical message, I had much more success following along. One of Gladwells skills is enabling us to see the world through the eyes of his subjects. Thank you for purchasing The Bomber Mafia, an audiobook by Malcolm Gladwell. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation and the Longest Night of the Second World War, by Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown and Co., New York, 2021, $27. The Bomber Mafia - Wikipedia I didn't know he had a podcast on this topic, but after listening to the book my immediate thought was "Why did I pay for this book? Your email address will not be published. This was not a standalone event. Bombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945 with Operation Meetinghouse, "You Know Your History? From what Ive read, dropping the atomic bombs was more a signal to Russia of our strength than a strategy to defeat Japan, which was pretty much defeated already. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. However the tale deserves to be informed. The mushroom cloud of atomic bombs minimizes the function of air campaign which annihilated the cities with a view to damage the morale of the forces. They believed that bombing strategic targets made sense, and bombing population centers didnt. Malcolm Gladwell and "The Bomber Mafia". Malcolm Gladwell's 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,. Is this book appropriate for an 11-year old that reads a lot WW II history and fiction books? 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. Upon release, The Bomber Mafia was met with mixed reviews, with reviewers praising its audiobook version but criticizing the book for a lack of accuracy and for being light on details. Tap the link to open your audiobook purchase in your podcast app. 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. Much of the book concerns the technical and practical aspects of the Norden bombsight, in a 'grown-ups arguing' sort of way. Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. 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. People growing up on animations and motion pictures see planes going down bombs/shooting targets as if done through cross hairs. son. These four instructors, the core of US bomber advocacy, argued that an enemy's army and navy could be defeated intact due to the destruction of industrial and military targets deep within enemy-held territory. This book once more casts an extra critical eye on this situation and outcome. Two new bomber groups were formed in the Pacific: LeMay headed one in India and Hansell led another in the Marianas. Please simply click here to enter your email address (no additional purchase required) and you will receive the Listeners Guide. 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. Agreed? The Bomber Mafia Audiobook by Malcolm Gladwell - hoopla 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. Malcolm Gladwell - The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War Audiobook. Kurt Vonneguts seminal publication Slaughterhouse five took the allied battle (pointless) of Dresden with the POV of Prisioners of war. 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. Malcolm Gladwell, "The Bomber Mafia" : CSPAN2 - Archive 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. The annals of WW-II is loaded with cities razed to ground across all countries (though advertised, thanks to prominent media/winning side account, just the Allied cities). [13] The result furthered the Allies' military objectives leading to Japan's surrender, such as with the Bombing of Tokyo on March 10, 1945 with Operation Meetinghouse. Maybe so. 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. Would this audiobook be appropriate for a teen with an interest in military history? Gladwell delves deep into how the Norden didnt quite deliver for Hansell in Europe and how the (as-yet-undiscovered) jetstream made it even more difficult to use in American bombing raids over Japan. The audiobook brings to life the stories. The next chapter details the pilots at the Air Corps Tactical School in Alabama who were known as the Bomber Mafia. "[26] Fedman and Karacas state "[w]ittingly or not, [Gladwell] omits or downplays evidence that undermines the very premise of the book. To frame the book in this simplistic binary is to misconstrue the doctrines of both precision and area bombing". [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]. [2] Fleets of heavy bombers were not able to achieve victory without the cooperation of the Army and Navy, and required the protection of long-range fighters for deep penetration missions. This is a preview of the digital audiobook of The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell, available on Libro.fm at https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781735803227?cmp=li. Relevance; Rating; Price (Ascending) Most Recent; View: Filter. Some apps may require users to copy their URL and paste it directly into the app. Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers The Tipping Point, Blink,Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. [1] The bomber mafia's strategic doctrine, changed by war and experience, helped shape the mission of the new Air Force and its Strategic Air Command.[2]. But I dont think the ghost of LeMay can be put to rest so easily. That Japanese cities were bombed beyond those I found out about, in a fashion I rarely want to picture. If you enjoyed those episodes, I think you'll like the full book. Thank you for purchasing The Bomber Mafia, an audiobook by Malcolm Gladwell. The Listeners Guide features additional commentary from Malcolm Gladwell, reflections on the production from producers and engineers, and archival photos from the period. Why? It reviews the capabilities that todays military has in terms of bombing and notes that the Bomber Mafias philosophy of precision bombing won out in the end. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); June 29, 2021 9 comments. Regardless, it was estimated that there would have been 2 MILLION American casualties had there been an invasion. The author of the book is Malcolm Gladwell, an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. Moreover, the men realized that the United States government would have to reduce funding to naval and ground forces in order to establish a great air fleet. I just re-listened to Gladwell's podcast on Curtis LeMay and the Bomber Mafia. [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. But rather Russias entry into the war and their invasion into Japanese-held Manchuria. 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. It was decided primarily by General Curtis LeMay to carpet bomb Tokyo, using napalm. However I really did not recognize why this publication merely discusses why this was the status quo. Part one on the extraordinary life of the Air Force General Curtis LeMay. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox. Everyone, generals included, hated the mass . Actually, LeMays B-29s firebombed 67 different Japanese cities with far more lives lost than the atomic bombs. War stories are a brand-new category for those utilized to Macolm Gladwells distinct brand of nonfiction. A headwind increases airflow under the wings giving it greater lift. LeMays solution was to saturate Tokyo with napalm bombs, killing as many as 100,000 people in about six hours, and then to go on and firebomb dozens of other Japanese cities, killing thousands upon thousands, sometimes when the target cities were of little or no military value. The system was then implemented in The second world war to varying outcomes. For customer support, contact help@supportingcast.fm. 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.
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