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The Bomber Mafia : a dream, a temptation, and the longest night of the second World War / Malcolm Gladwell.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Little Brown & Co., 2021Edition: First editionDescription: 240 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780316296618
  • 0316296619
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 940
LOC classification:
  • D
Summary: "Malcolm Gladwell's exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war. In The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell [...] weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American 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 his podcast, Revisionist History, Gladwell re-examines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In The Bomber Mafia, he 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. Things might have gone differently had LeMay's predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Haywood's theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather, enemy jet fighters, and human error. When he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war." --
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Holdings
Item type Current library Home library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode
Book Altamont Public Library Adult Non-Fiction Altamont Public Library Adult Books 940 Gladwell (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 35323000082771
Book Chanute Public Library Adult Non-Fiction Chanute Public Library Adult Books 940.5449 GLA (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 34316002710093
Book Garnett Public Library Adult Non-Fiction Garnett Public Library Adult Books 940. Gladwell, Malcolm (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 35303000307741
Book Mound City Library Adult Non-Fiction Mound City Library Adult Books 940.5 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 35332000218970
Book Parsons Public Library Adult Non-Fiction Parsons Public Library Adult Books 940.54 G543 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 34315000908717
Book Toronto Public Library Adult Non-Fiction Toronto Public Library Adult Books 940 Gladwell (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 35313000102844

"Malcolm Gladwell's exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war. In The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell [...] weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American 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 his podcast, Revisionist History, Gladwell re-examines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In The Bomber Mafia, he 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. Things might have gone differently had LeMay's predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Haywood's theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather, enemy jet fighters, and human error. When he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war." --

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