The Bomber Mafia: A Story Set in War
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- Create Date：2021-04-16 00:51:34
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Malcolm Gladwell
- ISBN：024153500X
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Summary
The international bestselling author returns with an exploration of one of the grandest obsessions of the twentieth century
'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？
'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？
Reviews
Sharyn
，
I had never heard of Malcolm Gladwell before seeing this book on NetGalley。 Wow， it's a fanastic history of American air tactics and the men behind them。 Unbelievable in many places， but it's history and not fiction。 Very well written and researched。 As a history buff， especially military history， I shall be looking for more books by the author - and also hopefully listening to his podcasts。 With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC of this title I had never heard of Malcolm Gladwell before seeing this book on NetGalley。 Wow， it's a fanastic history of American air tactics and the men behind them。 Unbelievable in many places， but it's history and not fiction。 Very well written and researched。 As a history buff， especially military history， I shall be looking for more books by the author - and also hopefully listening to his podcasts。 With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC of this title。 。。。more
Lauren Carruthers
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Such a great book。 Pulled me in as I'm a huge Gladwell fan anyway and true to form， he's taken a subject I never realised could be interesting， found this incredible wee angle on it and BOOM。 Couldn't put it down。 Read it compulsively over 24 hours。 Brilliant。 Very thought provoking。 Will leave you pondering questions you didn't even know you wanted to ask。 Such a great book。 Pulled me in as I'm a huge Gladwell fan anyway and true to form， he's taken a subject I never realised could be interesting， found this incredible wee angle on it and BOOM。 Couldn't put it down。 Read it compulsively over 24 hours。 Brilliant。 Very thought provoking。 Will leave you pondering questions you didn't even know you wanted to ask。 。。。more
Janet
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Date reviewed/posted: April 10， 2021Publication date: April 27， 2021When life for the entire galaxy and planet has turned on its end， you are continuing to #maskup and #lockdown to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #thirdwave （ #fourthwave #fifthwave？） is upon us， superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour， so yes， I have read the book … and many more today。I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley， the publisher and the author in Date reviewed/posted: April 10， 2021Publication date: April 27， 2021When life for the entire galaxy and planet has turned on its end， you are continuing to #maskup and #lockdown to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #thirdwave （ #fourthwave #fifthwave？） is upon us， superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour， so yes， I have read the book … and many more today。I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley， the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review。 From the publisher， as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews， I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸。The internationally bestselling author returns with an exploration of one of the grandest obsessions of the twentieth century'The Bomber Mafia is a case study of 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？Okay， once again I am reviewing a book that people will ask for left， right and centre that I did not like。。。at all。 Maybe it is because I find war to be both evil and stupid。。。I can see his point but it will pain me to recommend this to people asking "about the new Malcolm Gladwell"。As a librarian， if I do not learn something new or get engaged in the characters， I make a decision: I did not truly read/finish the book （I skimmed through it） as there are too many good ones out there to read and review。 That also applies to just being a lover of books --- if it isn't interesting， on to the next one！We all have the right to like different books， right？？ （And descriptions I did not have to edit with Grammarly！） 。。。more
Mana
，
Malcolm Gladwell as a brilliant storyteller offers a fresh， innovative approach to WW2 history。 Bomber mafia as he calls it， group of renegade pilots and others， such as scientists and politicians， have an idea to make a bombing so accurate that all wars could be fought entirely from the air。Gladwell asks us what is a price of progress in a thought and in a technology and where can obsession leads us。 Is it just a way to destruction or redemption？Interesting and compelling read， especially for a Malcolm Gladwell as a brilliant storyteller offers a fresh， innovative approach to WW2 history。 Bomber mafia as he calls it， group of renegade pilots and others， such as scientists and politicians， have an idea to make a bombing so accurate that all wars could be fought entirely from the air。Gladwell asks us what is a price of progress in a thought and in a technology and where can obsession leads us。 Is it just a way to destruction or redemption？Interesting and compelling read， especially for all history lovers。 。。。more
Jan
，
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 branch"）。 Pretty much the history of how the military went from ground wars to air wars and theoretically narrowing the drop zones of bombs （pipe dreams）。 It is well researched and focuses on several specific mechanical engineers and physicists， especially those who appear lost to history。I requested 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 branch"）。 Pretty much the history of how the military went from ground wars to air wars and theoretically narrowing the drop zones of bombs （pipe dreams）。 It is well researched and focuses on several specific mechanical engineers and physicists， especially those who appear lost to history。I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Little， Brown and Company via NetGalley。 Thank you。 。。。more
Phoebe
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I will always want to read Malcolm Gladwell's writing。 I will always want to read Malcolm Gladwell's writing。 。。。more
Adelusi
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Amazing read
Lloyd Fassett
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3/30/21 Goodread suggested it to me because I've read Malcolm Gladwell before。 3/30/21 Goodread suggested it to me because I've read Malcolm Gladwell before。 。。。more
Girish
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"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。 Curtis Lemay and Haywood Hansell are opposite ends of a spectrum in the high adrenaline combat Air Force。 While one is a celebr "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。 Curtis Lemay and Haywood Hansell are opposite ends of a spectrum in the high adrenaline combat Air Force。 While one is a celebrated hero， the other was an idealist whose principles allowed him to be sidelined in the annals of history。 The book starts with a very real problem。 People growing up on cartoons and movies see planes dropping bombs/shooting targets as if done through cross hairs。 But the problem the Bomber Mafia was trying to solve has both physics and moral angles。With battles in the air having the power to win you the war， can we do precision bombing to help reduce the casualties of war？ If you have ever tried to throw a can from a moving car into a thrash can - you would understand the math/physics behind it。 Just that， with bomber B29s the problem is infinitely more complex with visibility， weather conditions and anti-aircraft guns to combat with。The annals of WW-II is replete with cities razed to ground across all countries （though advertised， thanks to popular media/winning side account， only the Allied cities）。 Kurt Vonnegut's seminal book Slaughterhouse five took the allied bombing （pointless） of Dresden through the POV of Prisioners of war。 This was not a standalone incident。 The mushroom cloud of atomic bombs downplays the role of air strikes which annihilated the cities with a view to break the morale of the forces。 The book in that backdrop is a story of idealism。The Bomber mafia under Hansell are out to minimize the destruction and focused on throwing a spanner in the works of war。 Their promise， their journey gets delivered a bit too late for it to have any significant bearing on the war。 But the story deserves to be told。What I enjoyed in addition was the narrative consistency that made facts being the backdrop of a compelling story。 Loved it and I would recommend it to history buffs！ Note: I would like to thank Penguin Press UK （Sarah Wright） and the Netgalley for providing the ARC of the book。 The book is getting released on 27th April。 。。。more
Jim Hanks
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Although books on the second World War are in plentiful supply， Malcolm Gladwell has found a quirky， fresh insight into air warfare and how small decisions led to big changes in how battled would take place。 Malcolm Gladwell has a knack for making any subject very interesting through his research and his ability to see things others cannot。 The book， though short， is packed with detail and intriguing throughout。
Khaled Saeed
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