After difficulties in applying the Bomber Mafia's theoretical strategy, Major General Hansell was replaced by Major General Curtis LeMay, who utilized tactical changes such as attacking Japanese population centers with napalm to ensure a Japanese surrender. No new apps to download, no subscription fees. 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. The Bomber Mafia, through a "failure of imagination" in not expanding the doctrine to include establishing air superiority as a prerequisite for success,[16] would not accept either of these conceptsthey believed the heavy bomber fleet could protect itself, and thus they contributed to the delay in the development of a long-range escort fighter until two years into the war. This was not a standalone event. When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Contact Us | I immediately thought, Oh yeah? World War II had begun in Europe in 1939, and the United States entered in 1941, after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. The derogatory term "Bomber Mafia" was used before and after World War II by those in the military who did not share their belief, and who were frustrated by the insistence of the men that the heavy bomber should take a primary position in planning and funding. Sorry, but these apps are not currently supported: Stitcher, Podbean, or NPR One. Chapter 3 is about the British and American bombing campaign against Germany in 1943. Your seamless listening experience is powered by Supporting Cast. Why were the North Vietnamese such a powerful force, because they were colonized for generations and their cities were being carpet bombed by B52s from 40,000, if you kill someones family you should prepare to face their relatives. A third hit the bombardier in the head and shoulder. [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. Actually, LeMays B-29s firebombed 67 different Japanese cities with far more lives lost than the atomic bombs. Your email address will not be published. Malcom Gladwells book Talking to Strangers is a very good book that ties together As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. 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. What about the sailor whose ship is torpedoed and who hangs from debris in the water with no chance of rescue? All Rights Reserved. Simply not a subject I seem out, neither do I think I would certainly have liked it as much had I review. However I really did not recognize why this publication merely discusses why this was the status quo. 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. WATCH SEGMENT. Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to one another that isnt true? [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]. Their assurance, their journey gets provided a little bit too late for it to have any substantial bearing on the war. 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. Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policys Top Global Thinkers. It was decided primarily by General Curtis LeMay to carpet bomb Tokyo, using napalm. Supported apps include: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocketcasts, Podcast Addict, Castbox, BeyondPod, Downcast, PlayerFM, Breaker, and RadioPublic. This guide is based on the hardcover first edition. The book is adapted from a series of podcasts Gladwell created for his show Revisionist History. I enjoyed this short book thoroughly, and would have been happy if it had been twice as long. Overall casualties in the war were not minimal, and victory did not come significantly more quickly. Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis, The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. It is indeed a conversational work, almost garrulous at times, as when he reports that one psychologist has a heartbreaking riff about what one member of a couple will often say when the other one dies that some part of him or her has died along with the partner. However, this chatty style also glides over some important historical questions. 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. What could be more American than the story of LeMay, a gruff, cigar-chewing Ohioan who made his way through the state university by working night shifts at a foundry? The biggest runs against a strategic target, specifically a ball bearing factory, largely was a failure. Malcolm Gladwells exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war. He released a couple chapters from this book as episodes of Revisionist History. In spite of the horrifying damage inflicted by napalm bombs, many Japanese believed theyre what caused the government to surrender. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. In Gladwells account, Hansells relatively more humane approach didnt work. Very interesting. Did the podcast effect the way you approached the book, or understood it? LeMay has taken over from Hansell and used napalm, resulting in markedly more success but also much greater destruction and killing of civilians. or ask your favorite author a question with 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. We are excited to provide you an exclusive Listener's Guide that offers an inside look at the production process, archival imagery, and commentary from Malcolm and the producers and engineers involved with this extraordinary project. Everyone, generals included, hated the mass . They believed that bombing strategic targets made sense, and bombing population centers didnt. Most military thinkers in the . Do Not Steal My Personal Information. He was hardly a theorist, and especially not someone out to make war more humane. During World War II, some of these pilots became major decision makers. Malcolm Gladwell - The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War Audiobook. [11] The book examines Hansell's replacement by Major General Curtis LeMay,[12] who implemented a series of tactical changes such as ordering bombing at a dramatically lower altitude to avoid the jet stream, removal of most of the bombers' defensive weaponry to increase bomb payload and wholesale nighttime fire bombing with incendiaries like napalm to devastate many of the population centers of Japan. The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War. Thank you for purchasing The Bomber Mafia, an audiobook by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell raises two fascinating points. 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. I went back and read The Bomber Mafia a second time. This page was last edited on 16 June 2022, at 01:38. This was a ripoff and should have just been a podcast. The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effects predicts sociologists and sports psychologists would say the same for his . Gladwell begins the story in the Introduction in January 1945, on the Mariana Islands. Of course today he would be ignored and demoted. [21] In The New York Times Book Review, Thomas E. Ricks called the book "a conversational work" which he enjoyed, but noted that "when Gladwell leaps to provide superlative assessments, or draws broad lessons of history from isolated incidents, he makes me wary". For those of us who had family waiting to invade, whatever the reason(s), it was very welcome. 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. [25] Professors Fedman and Karacas stated that errors "pile up to the point where it becomes clear that a book that has received so much attention ought to have received more fact-checking". 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. And then another. If you enjoyed those episodes, I think you'll like the full book. [27] Ricks calls LeMay an "unexpected hero" of the story,[22] while McConnachie cites Hansell as Gladwell's hero. To most people, a city park is a grace note, a green space that makes urban life more livable. 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. 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. Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. [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. Is this book appropriate for an 11-year old that reads a lot WW II history and fiction books? But it was news to me. After the war, LeMay was given a high medal by the Japanese government. 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. Their empire building was targeted towards oil production, in order to be a world power you must have oil. 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. Tap the link to open your audiobook purchase in your podcast app. 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. [17] In The Wall Street Journal, Yale professor Paul Kennedy praised the audiobook version of The Bomber Mafia as "remarkable" and a "work of art"; similarly, in The Times, reviewer Gerard DeGroot said "The Bomber Mafia remind[ed] [him] of a really good podcast a fascinating story is appealingly delivered", and historian Diana Preston of The Washington Post called the audiobook "innovative" for its inclusion of archival clips, music, and sound effects. If burning entire populated cities from the air was effective the war would have been over way sooner in Europe and the Pacific. In The Bombing plane Mafia, he hones in on a specific period of history. Whether it was the atom bombs or LeMays bombing tactic that hastened the Japanese to surrender will always be a debatable topic. 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. 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. Regardless, it was estimated that there would have been 2 MILLION American casualties had there been an invasion. He bled to death. While we are at it, I really feel that nobody sane would actually mind if a barrel of olive loaf, or environment-friendly bean casserole catches a bomb or 2. 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,. and Terms of Use, 2023 Hachette Book Group | Terms of Use | Also, the air arm tends to be regarded by the other services as suspiciously civilian-ish as in the soldiers one-liner, I have a lot of respect for the U.S. military, and also for the Air Force. But in Gladwells 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. LeMay replaced Hansell at the end of 1944 and soon began a campaign of terror that eventually visited virtually every major city in Japan. Haywood Hansell won the war. The evidence for this, of course, is the ability of todays stealthy radar-evading bombers to drop ordnance from great heights and have them guided to precise points on a given target say, a hardened aircraft hangar or an enemy intelligence agencys power system. The Bomber Mafia began as an audiobook, and later transitioned into a print book. Gladwell conceived this project as an audiobook and previously made much of it available as a podcast, so the production values for the audio version are impressive. WATCH SEGMENT . Required fields are marked *. [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. Ultimately, though, the Bomber Mafia was right. Suggestions, Fan Mail, Bones to Pick, and All Other Queries, For Speaking Engagements With Malcolm Gladwell. Yes, it would have caused millions to starve and die but the invasion alternative would have caused millions of allied lives. They believed that bombing strategic targets made sense, and bombing population centers didn't. We have updated our Privacy Policy The pilot kept flying.. Revisionist History host Malcolm Gladwell joins Dan to discuss the development of U.S. precision bombing ideas, Curtis LeMay and the firebombing of Japanese cities. 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. [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. If youre an audiobook listener, thats the version to choose. Malcolm Gladwell has in his hands a very good story in The Bomber Mafia. Malcolm Gladwell had a podcast on this topic last year. As long as youre comfortable with the numbers of people who were killed during the air attacks described throughout the book. "[26] Fedman and Karacas state "[w]ittingly or not, [Gladwell] omits or downplays evidence that undermines the very premise of the book. Along with the bombing this was a key factor in Japans decision to surrender. [2] Precision in bombing was not achieved until long-range fighter escorts became available and air superiority was achieved, as opponents had warned. Sort: Relevance. The rest of the book focuses on the Pacific Theater during the last two years of the war. by . 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. 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. [9], When the United States entered World War II, the Bomber Mafia's doctrine proved of little military use and costly in implementation with the realities of current technology under real-world combat conditions. [1], The term "Bomber Mafia" came from the sometimes bitter debates between United States Army staff and Air Corps men who observed, and argued with, the insistence by instructors and students of the ACTS that heavy bombers were the new primary weapon of war, and that a separate air arm was required to command them. And interesting. Listen to audiobooks in the same place you spend hours listening to your favorite podcasts. Malcolm Gladwell's "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. I seriously doubt Russias entry into the war was a factor. 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 Podcasts Aren't So Sure", "Presenting: The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell", "The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War", "The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell review why 'precision bombing' is an utter delusion", "Wrestling with the strategy and morality of the firebombing of Japan", "The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell, review the Outliers author on the morality of war", "Malcolm Gladwell on the Hard Decisions of War", "When Pop History Bombs: A Response to Malcolm Gladwell's Love Letter to American Air Power", "Malcolm Gladwell's The Bomber Mafia is misleading history-lite", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bomber_Mafia&oldid=1134344848, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 06:23. This was a ripoff, 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? 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. I caught Gladwell on CNN last Sunday. A headwind increases airflow under the wings giving it greater lift. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); June 29, 2021 9 comments. Just how wrong was I, however in a blink of an eye I had a book I could not take down. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Blandthrowing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt. I am a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell. 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. in History Nonfiction June 10, 2021, Malcolm Gladwell The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War Audiobook. Weve all be taught that it was the two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki that caused the Japanese to surrender. (Gladwell partly excuses this notorious phrase, saying it was likely the work of a ghostwriter.) 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. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we dont know. Japan was largely self-sufficient as far as food is concerned, they would have become uncomfortable but they would not have starved to death. The most compelling account is the clash of ideas and the practical options sought to fight on a distant enemy. Welcome back. Two new bomber groups were formed in the Pacific: LeMay headed one in India and Hansell led another in the Marianas. 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. On page 127 of the hard copy, Gladwell got it backwards when he stated heavily laden B-29s headed for a Japan bombing run had to wait for a tailwind to be able to take off. Because of a review from one of the Goodread friends, I decided to take on the audiobook, instead of the print/e-book version. 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. Some apps may require users to copy their URL and paste it directly into the app. They failed. 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. There are actual recordings of interviews conducted by Gladwell and also taken from documentaries filmed or recorded in the decades since the war. Randall Jarrell captured LeMays blithely brutal approach in two of the most memorable lines of 20th-century American poetry: In bombers named for girls, we burned / The cities we had learned about in school.. [12] The teaching of fighter ("pursuit") tactics declined, though Earle E. Partridge and Hoyt S. Vandenberg continued to discuss the role of the fighter. [23], Several reviewers criticized the book for its accuracy, and for being light on details. Can the less humane way actually save more lives in the long run. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine for over 25 years and was named by Time magazine as one of its 100 Most Influential People. In that sense, Gladwell wrote that Hansell "won the war."[21][22]. Much of the book concerns the technical and practical aspects of the Norden bombsight, in a 'grown-ups arguing' sort of way. You can send this audiobook as a gift by visiting this page to select the audiobook and enter your lucky recipients information. Departing from his usual path, New York Times bestselling writer Malcolm Gladwell addresses a still heated historical debate: Was Allied carpet bombing during World War II reasonable or criminal? The second is that Japanese politicians and historians actually thanked LeMay for the campaign after the war. 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. 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. The book concludes that "LeMay won the battle. Actually, Gladwell mentions that the audio style is the initial text, as well as the hardback is the secondary item. The bomber mafia succeeded in their goal to have extensive bomber fleets in the US military, but they failed in their wish to achieve pinpoint targeting precision during World War II. 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 . James Grosjean Strategy Cards (ShopLVA Exclusive), Las Vegas Advisor Membership + Member Rewards, Other Games, Weird Rules, Promos, Side Bets, Podcast - former surveillance operator Junior. 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. [5][6], The book follows the story of the Bomber Mafia, a group of American military officers, especially Major General Haywood S. Hansell, as they developed a military doctrine of daylight strategic bombing as a means to defeat an enemy with precision high-altitude aerial bombardment. 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. ", He released a couple chapters from this book as episodes of Revisionist History. Kelsey formulated a new "interceptor" class of aircraft in order to sustain his idea that a well-armed fighter aircraft could successfully attack enemy bombers, and that, given drop tanks for long range, it could defend friendly bombers all the way to the target and back.[15]. . 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. The State of Journalism on World Press Freedom Day. Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. 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. 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. Privacy Policy | [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. 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. They intended the mission to be against military and industrial targets, not populations. There is nothing 'inappropriate' in the book, it is simply not about battles and actions. 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. Purchase The Bomber Mafia and receive the exclusive Bomber Mafia Listeners Guide a visual document of the making of The Bomber Mafia. The war ended some 76 years ago. This book once more casts an extra critical eye on this situation and outcome. Restricted in scope, short in play time, I located this believed prompting. The book description sounds exactly like the podcast. This change of commandand what it meant in terms of military strategyis the crux of this book. 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.
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