The Bomber Mafia

A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War

By: Malcolm Gladwell

Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell

Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins

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.

©2021 Malcolm Gladwell (P)2021 Malcolm Gladwell

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)

Another home run by Gladwell...

Listened to it in one sitting, very engaging. Gladwell is a terrific storyteller. Highly recommend.

Wow I learned a LOT!

Amazing story of arrogance, mad scientists, military and WWII…. If we had not won these people would be charged with crimes against humanity…. My father and my uncle fought in WWII and I studied their travels and horrors…my fathers cousin was a top turret gunner in WWII. Shot down over Germany found with a broken back and killed by the locals. I can’t blame them for any of this… I am thankful my uncle and father survived, but at what cost? My uncle died with the daemons of PTSD chasing him… alone and frozen in a river he was found days later…. Still breaks my heart…

Thank you Malcolm for an insightful and amazing historical look at this piece of WWII …

I couldn't put it down.

Having had a fascination with this topic for a long time, this book answered and clarified many of the questions that I had about how such a horrific event could have happened. From the pipe dream known as the Norden bombsight, to the fact that aviators couldn't even predict a typhoon, Gladwell documents the difficulty of long range, high altitude bombing.
Well narrated, and well researched. Anyone who wishes to deepen their knowledge with the stomach who can tolerate the subject matter, will enjoy this book.

Fantastic

So interesting and well done. I was amazed at the story and the history. Excellent!

The future of audiobooks

The decision to create an audiobook before the textual book differentiates this from every other audiobook I have ever listened to. What Gladwell and Pushkin have created is essentially a long form research podcast. The experience is riveting and addictive. The story itself, shines light on a much forgotten piece of World War 2 history. I can't wait to see what Pushkin Audiobooks creates next.

Fascinating

A fascinating, immersive, and deeply moving story about the creation of modern air warfare. Highly recommended.

fantastic audio book!

I like Gladwell and I've read Blink and the Outliers and those were great books and I was intrigued that he wrote on this subject as it seemed a big departure from what he normally writes about. However, once I started it, it became apparent this was related in a lot of ways to his previous works and I didn't know he was a military history enthusiast. This book captures a fascinating aspect of the Air War over Europe and finishing Japan. the book begins with the dream of a small group of army officers prior to wwii who wished to end wars by crippling the enemy's capacity to fight with minimal loss of life. it ends with that dream incinerated in the fires of Japanese cities. but it does not die there,, it lives on later when technology catches up. Bomber Mafia does a really good job of humanizing the history from all sides of the war and brings to life the tragedies that are very impersonal from 30,000 feet above the target. What I also liked about the book was the production working in bumper music, sound effects and audio recordings of the interviews of the people featured in the book. An interesting, well written narrative and production.

Not what I expected

It was not the subject I expected given the books I’ve read from him in the past. But the execution and story telling he uses to engage his readers was the same. At this point, virtually anything Gladwell writes, I will read.

This production raises the bar for audiobooks

I enjoyed everything about this audiobook. Typically not a war history buff, I was immersed into that time with the compelling story as written by Malcolm Gladwell.

Awesome book about the US Army Air Corp!

Unbelievable information regarding WW2. Real interviews included with actual plan makers and bomb makers for WW2 missions! One of the best books I've ever experienced!