The release date for the English version of 'The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War' by
Malcolm Gladwell is Apr 2021. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
An examination of the collision between technology and good intentions during combat
Malcolm Gladwell examines one of the biggest moral quandaries in modern American history in The Bomber Mafia, a book that intertwines the tales of a British psychopath, a group of brothers in rural Alabama, a Dutch genius and his handmade computer, and pyromaniacal Harvard scientists.
The aircraft was seen as an afterthought by the majority of military strategists in the years before World War II. But what if precise bombing could weaken the adversary and significantly reduce the death toll from war? This was the question posed by a tiny group of idealistic strategists known as the "Bomber Mafia."
On the other hand, General Curtis LeMay, whose harsh pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics cost thousands of civilian deaths in Japan but may have saved many more by preventing a planned US invasion, was the mastermind behind the bombing of Tokyo on the bloodiest night of the war. Was it worth it? is a question Gladwell poses in The Bomber Mafia.
If General Haywood Hansell, LeMay's predecessor, had stayed in command, things may have turned out differently. Though Hansell was a supporter of precision bombing, the darkest hour of World War II began when LeMay defeated Hansell in a contest for command in the Guam jungles. The captivating story of perseverance, ingenuity, and the unquantifiable costs of war is presented in The Bomber Mafia.