Allen Lane, 2021, softcover, illustrated, index, 240 pages, condition: new.
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 The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell delves deep into questions of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war.
The deadliest raid of WWII, what led up to it and who was involved. This was a stunning but entertaining book, one I probably wouldn't have picked up if it wasn't written by Gladwell. Just not a subject I seem out, nor do I think I would have liked it as much had I read.
Norden, LeMay, the Air force, DuPont, a full range of characters that invented ways to make war more effective, with the hope that this war would be the last. Highlights how technological advances are often used in ways they were not meant. Limited in scope, short in play time, I found this thought provoking.
