03506cam a2200445 i 4500 503426196 TxGeo 20210527120000.0 210302s2021||||||||||||d|||||||||||eng|u 9780316309851 hbk. 0316309850 hbk. (OCoLC)1242972160 TxGeo rda Gladwell, Malcolm, 1963- The Bomber Mafia [large print] : a dream, a temptation, and the longest night of the second World War / Malcolm Gladwell. First edition. New York, NY : Little, Brown and Company, 2021. xvi, 303 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 21 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier sti rdacontent rdamedia rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references and index. "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"-- Provided by publisher. 20210608. LeMay, Curtis E. Hansell, Haywood S. Aeronautics, Military United States History 20th century. Aeronautics, Military History 20th century. World War, 1939-1945 Aerial operations, American. World War, 1939-1945 Japan Aerial operations, American. Precision bombing United States History 20th century. Bombing, Aerial United States History 20th century. Bombing, Aerial Japan History 20th century. Strategy History 20th century. Large type books. QS5