The bestselling author of Talking to Strangers returns with an eye-opening volume that explores a group of idealistic strategists whose well-intentioned plans and technological innovations veered in a new direction after the outbreak of the Second World War.
A riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war, from Malcolm Gladwell, the international bestselling author of Talking to Strangers and host of the award-winning podcast Revisionist 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 The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell delves deep into questions of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241535004
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 480 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 27 mm
A parable written for the age of technological disruption . . . brilliantly told - James McConnachie, Sunday Times
Remarkable . . . a work of art . . . one puts this book down shaking one's head at the folly and human cost of it all - Paul Kennedy, Wall Street Journal
Gripping . . . in Gladwell's deft hands, the Air Force generals of World War II come back to life as the stirring 20th-century equivalent of Adm. Horatio Nelson and his band of audacious captains from the age of fighting sail . . . Gladwell is a wonderful storyteller - Thomas E. Ricks, The New York Times
Impassioned . . . engagingly written - Saul David, Telegraph
Riveting . . .The Bomber Mafia looks at one of the greatest moral challenges of the Second World War - Michael Lewis, author of The Fifth Risk
Told with the muscular, driving narrative and fizzingly charismatic (real-life) characters of a movie - Ed Grenby, Radio Times
A thought-provoking, accessible account of how people respond to difficult choices in difficult times . . . Gladwell's easy conversational style works well . . . his portraits of individuals are compelling - Diana Preston, Washington Post
Unexpected empathy . . . fabulistic energy - Esquire
Lively, engaging . . . a fascinating story - Gerard DeGroot, The Times
Important and characteristically readable . . . Gladwell is possibly the most confident storyteller in non-fiction. He always knows exactly where he is going, and he takes you with him in pleasure and comfort. - Simon Kuper, New Statesman
Gladwell's eloquence and flair for lateral thinking make for a compelling read - Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday
Malcolm Gladwell, explores the morality of war and methods being used during the Second World War by the American Air Force.
“Bomber Mafia” is full of colourful characters from the history, as Gladwell says, it makes...
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'The Bomber Mafia' by Malcom Gladwell focusses on the possibilities and moral ambiguities of aerial warfare. From carpet bombing/area bombing, precision bombing, napalm and drone strikes, Gladwell reports on... More
Basically, air power proponents were like surgeons ("cure anything and everything with a knife") and bombing proponents like neurosurgeons ("fixing God's mistakes and better than any other surgical... More
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