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. Perfect tinder for firebombing. I went back and read The Bomber Mafia a second time. This is history brought to life through the power of audio. The words Bomber Mafia refer to a group of American pilots in the 1930s stationed at what was then called Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama. 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. We have updated our Privacy Policy [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. 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 advancement of how warplanes were deployed is rather remarkable. Bomber Mafia is story of efficiency, morality and technology. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Can the less humane way actually save more lives in the long run. Before they started invading China and Southeast Asia, Japan got most of its oil from the United States, which they knew was going to end when we realized what was going on. 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. 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. 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. ", He released a couple chapters from this book as episodes of Revisionist History. What about the sailor whose ship is torpedoed and who hangs from debris in the water with no chance of rescue? Those are exactly the same, but there's a lot more to the book. Required fields are marked *. "[26] Fedman and Karacas state "[w]ittingly or not, [Gladwell] omits or downplays evidence that undermines the very premise of the book. A fifth severed the rudder cables. Yes, it would have caused millions to starve and die but the invasion alternative would have caused millions of allied lives. Would this audiobook be appropriate for a teen with an interest in military history? Sorry, but these apps are not currently supported: Stitcher, Podbean, or NPR One. in the program we will take some of your questions. Malcolm Gladwell - The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War Audiobook. Malcolm Gladwell's Fantasy of War From the Air - The New Republic Hansell was not the moral opposite of LeMay. 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. [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. 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. dan is the author of six books about business and human behavior including "the new york times" bestseller he is a great friend and we cannot wait to host him and his upcoming book. General Haywood Hansell is being relieved from overseeing the 21st Bomber Command, to be replaced by General Curtis LeMay. 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. Do Not Steal My Personal Information. 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. For customer support, contact help@supportingcast.fm. 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. [8] In that regard, this was at odds with Britain's Royal Air Force' doctrine of area bombing under the command of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris. Supported apps include: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocketcasts, Podcast Addict, Castbox, BeyondPod, Downcast, PlayerFM, Breaker, and RadioPublic. Malcolm Gladwell The Bomber Mafia Audiobook Online. [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. Most of his books deal with research into the social sciences, particularly sociology and psychology and have been best sellers. They also complete an image analysis section and create two propaganda posters from different . Had the war gone on longer, into the winter of 1945-46, he suggests, millions of Japanese could have died of starvation. 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. Take capers these are certainly not peas. In that sense, Gladwell wrote that Hansell "won the war."[21][22]. I knew the Americans went down two atomic weapons to shorten the battle as well as bring Japan to its knees as well as accept surrender to conserve countless lives needed to get into those islands. Purchase The Bomber Mafia and receive the exclusive Bomber Mafia Listeners Guide a visual document of the making of The Bomber Mafia. And then another. The British strategy was known as area bombing, which amounted to creating as much damage as possible over a wide area. In one day in March, 1945, more than 400 B-29s totally burned 16 square miles of Tokyo killing far more than 100,000 people. Actually, Gladwell mentions that the audio style is the initial text, as well as the hardback is the secondary item. Chapter 8 resumes the narrative of the bombing campaign against Japan from the Marianas. However the tale deserves to be informed. Of course today he would be ignored and demoted. 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. 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 . 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. Content Warning: The source text contains historical quotations that use offensive terms for Japanese people. Guide because backdrop is a story of optimism. Book Review: Technology, Will and War's Deadliest Night in Malcolm Restricted in scope, short in play time, I located this believed prompting. It does give you a sense of the futility of war and leaves you feeling like there must be a better way, which is a good message for a 13 yo. [4][5] In contrast, American theorists devised a strategy of pin-point bombing that targeted the enemy economy and the production of weapons. Perhaps bombing debate this is old hat to many of my readers. Do you prefer this format. If LeMay firebombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the loss of life would have been similar as to what the atomic bombs caused without the radiation. The kind of indiscriminate destruction that LeMay used to win the war is absolutely a thing of the past, at least for American forces. 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 ferocious approach may have helped end the war, but there is no question that it was horrible. [27] Ricks calls LeMay an "unexpected hero" of the story,[22] while McConnachie cites Hansell as Gladwell's hero. I would have been bored with this when I was 11--likely he would be, too. I just re-listened to Gladwell's podcast on Curtis LeMay and the Bomber Mafia. We are excited to provide you an exclusiveListener'sGuidethat offers an inside look at the production process, archival imagery, and commentary from Malcolm and the producers and engineers involved with this extraordinaryproject. The villain, or at least loser in this account, is another Air Force general, Haywood Hansell, who had tried to win the war in the Pacific through the precision-bombing of Japan. A novelty of this book is that Gladwell says it began as an audiobook and then became a written one, reversing the usual process. 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. Starting in 2022, Starbucks is expanding its Veterans Day freebie to include an additional product: iced coffee. The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell (Audiobook Excerpt) If youre an audiobook listener, thats the version to choose. 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.

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