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The Bomber Mafia
- A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
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The Bomber Mafia
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Publisher's Summary
In The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell, author of New York Times best sellers including Talking to Strangers and host of the podcast Revisionist History, uses original interviews, archival footage, and his trademark insight to weave 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. As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines 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 Revisionist History, Gladwell reexamines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In The Bomber Mafia, he employs all the production techniques that make Revisionist History so engaging, stepping back from the bombing of Tokyo, the deadliest night of the war, and asking, “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, Hansell’s theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather 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.
Critic Reviews
“The Bomber Mafia is a parable written for the age of technological disruption.” (The Times, London)
"Gladwell is a wonderful storyteller. When he is introducing characters and showing them in conflict, The Bomber Mafia is gripping. I enjoyed this short book thoroughly, and would have been happy if it had been twice as long." (The New York Times)
“An innovative audio book with music, sound effects and archival clips. Gladwell’s easy conversational style works well, and his admiration for the Bomber Mafia shines through.” (The Washington Post)
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What listeners say about The Bomber Mafia
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Yoosaf A.
- 21-02-22
Stunningly compiled Truth behind ending WWII
The book as expected from malcolm is always awe inspiring and a huge learning. The flow is riveting and you keep getting perspirated running among soldiers, scientists, chemist's, meteorologists from one chapter to the next. Proliferating with knowledge and facts about the air power in WWII was never like before and never will be again. Why did the Japanese awarded general Lement with highest civilian order to a foreigner for dropping the bomb on nagasaki?
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- raseek
- 08-07-21
Gladwell is just too good.
As always Malcolm Gladwell enthralls us with intriguing stories about remarkable personalities thrown into challenging situations and how their conduct in those situations have lessons for all of us.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Somnath
- 07-02-24
Just the way all Audiobooks were
A wonderful book. Beautiful narration. The background music and Real audio footage brought the story alive. Also at 4-5 hours the book's length is just right for an audiobook. Highly recommended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Parth Bhatt
- 15-07-22
Dive Deep
Inexplicable Storytelling by the master himself, Malcolm means serious business. An extremely riveting read. Pushkin Industries Audiobooks are on another level.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-10-21
Great production, decent story
Story was a little reductionist in nature, but fascinating enough for long car rides. Wonderful production- will buy more of Pushkin audiobooks
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Girish Anand Kalele
- 02-10-21
thought provoking
those who love history, that too the second world war. worth listening... must listen.
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- Ketan
- 30-06-21
Superb storytelling.
Very well researched, has a good flow. enjoyable listening. Loved the narration from the author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 06-09-22
A true pioneer of the medium
Malcolm Gladwell has returned with another superbly compelling narrative that charts the origins and ideologies of the infamous Bomber Mafia... Masterfully crafted and perhaps the few books that can conceived first as an audio book before print instead of the other way round, this is a must have for anyone still dabbling with the medium of audio book in general. Be warned, its hard to get back to regular narrations after this
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Rahul
- 08-07-21
Gladwell magic
This book wouldn’t be half as much fun as it is if it wasn’t read by Gladwell himself. Once again Gladwell takes a fairly simple story and researches the hell out of it to make it a compelling listen.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Saikat Baksi
- 08-07-21
as usual, listening to Malcom Gladwell is great
Enjoyed the book. Only one observation - It's not as good as his early three books.
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1 person found this helpful