The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
- ISBN-10
- 024153500X
- ISBN-13
- 9780241535004
- Series
- The Bomber Mafia
- Category
- Aeronautics, Military
- Pages
- 256
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-04-27
- Publisher
- Allen Lane
- Author
- Malcolm Gladwell
Description
'The Bomber Mafia is a case study in how dreams go awry. When some shiny new idea drops from the heavens, it does not land softly in our laps. It lands hard, on the ground, and shatters.' In the years before the Second World War, in a sleepy air force base in central Alabama, a small group of renegade pilots put forth a radical idea. What if we made bombing so accurate that wars could be fought entirely from the air? What if we could make the brutal clashes between armies on the ground a thing of the past? This book tells the story of what happened when that dream was put to the test. 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. In this tale of innovation and obsession, Gladwell asks- what happens when technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war? And what is the price of progress?
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2022-06-07
- 256 pages
- Paperback
- Back Bay Books
-
- 2021-04-27
- 288 pages
- Ebook
- Little, Brown
Similar books
-
Fighters of World War II
By Charles William Cain, Mike JerramThen two new factors entered the picture and altered Camm's design philosophy yet again , the Rolls - Royce P.V.12 and a ... The engine supplied by Rolls - Royce was the 11th of the development series and was to the Merlin C build which ...
-
The Lion Killers: Billy Mitchell and the Birth of Strategic Bombing
By William SchwarzerA staunch advocate of airpower, Brigadier General William Mitchell's ideas were controversial in a time when the general and the admiral were deemed the sole proprietors of modern warfare.
-
Leading Airpower Into the 21st Century: Stories of Courage, Innovation, and Resiliency
By Michael Schmidt, Todd Arthur, Joshua Aycock"This book commemorates the 37th annual GOE [Gathering of Eagles] program by providing a published collection of oral history interviews from selected Eagles.
-
WWII Bombardiers
By Philip A. St. JohnLELAND KENDALL PEARSON (PETE), 1 st Lt., S/N A02078 1 1 3 was born on May 17, 1925 at Picayune, MS. A high school student before the war volunteering at graduation on June 28. 1943. Went to Miami Beach, FL for basic training on August 6 ...
-
Valiant Air Command
By Mike Savage, Norman PealingBeretter om den amerikanske organisation, "Valiant Air Command" (VAC), der har til formål at restaurere museumsfly og holde dem flyvende. Mange farvefotos af de restaurerede fly.
-
Wolverines in the Sky
By Andrew LaytonKenneth L. Porter 5 victories Dowagiac Kenneth Lee Porter was born on the 6th of December, 1896 in Dowagiac, Michigan. As a young man, He attended the University of Michigan, where he received a degree in engineering before enlisting in ...
-
Power Projection: Making the Tough Choices
By Mark Alan Gunzinger18 Gene D. Hendrickson, Colonel, US Marine Corps, "A Vision of the Marine Corps," Marine Corps Gazette 74 (February 1990): 14. Colonel Hendrickson was assigned to the Marine Corps Research, Development, and Acquisition Command at the ...
-
The Development Of The B-52 And Jet Propulsion: A Case Study In Organizational Innovation
By Dr. Mark D MandelesDr. Mark D Mandeles. Notes 1. Arthur L. Stinchcombe. Constructing Social Theories (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1968), 47-53. 2. Discussion of levels of analysis is a rich subject in philosophy of science and methodology.
-
Operational Test: Honing the Edge
By David Lewis, Dave GledhillA modern aircraft is a jigsaw of software-controlled sub-systems designed to excel in air combat.
-
Barons of the Sky: From Early Flight to Strategic Warfare : the Story of the American Aerospace Industry
By Wayne BiddleAt Simon & Schuster , Allen Peacock provided the best editorial guidance I have ever known . Alice Mayhew took responsibility for the manuscript at a critical juncture , doing the solid job for which she is widely respected .