“The Bomber Mafia” by Malcolm Gladwell: A Fascinating Look at WWII Bombing
“The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War” by Malcolm Gladwell began as an audiobook and was featured on his podcast, “Revisionist History.” The book contains several facts and focuses on Gladwell’s fascination with World War II air campaigns. If you want a shortcut. listen to the episodes of the podcast.
“The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War” is packed with facts and contains several detailed stories about key Air Force generals in World War II. In particular, there is a focus on General Haywood S. Hansell and his strong desire for daytime precision bombing to reduce civilian casualties, and General Curtis LeMay’s strategy embraced napalm and area bombing. Have you heard of the Bomber Mafia?
“The Bomber Mafia” by Malcolm Gladwell Summary
“The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War” is a 2021 book by best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell. The book is packed with several in-depth stories and interesting facts from World War II. Rather than focus on the entire book, which unfolds chronologically, we retell two major stories here. They are the strengths of the book.
The Norden Bombsight: The Technology Behind the Bomber Mafia
“The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War” starts with a focus on Carl Norden, a mathematical genius born in Holland. He went on to invent the Norden Bombsight. His goal was for a plane moving 500 miles per hour to drop a pickle in a barrel from 2,500 feet.
The bombsight, we are told, needed to calculate a myriad of factors, including the rotation of the Earth. The bombsight was in American World War II bombers, like the B‑17, B‑24, and B‑29. Gladwell says that the bombsight weighed about 50 pounds and was the size of a laundry basket. He also says that airplane crews swore to protect the bombsight with their lives.
Even though the bombsight was on most major American airplanes during the war, and crews swore to protect it with their lives, we learn that the device was inaccurate, even in daytime bombing and clear conditions. Nevertheless, the Bomber Mafia believed strongly in the device and held that daytime bombing from up high was necessary to win the war.
Fire Bombing of Tokyo
The book also focuses on the invention of Napalm. A jelly-like, highly flammable substance. It was the perfect weapon for the Bomber Mafia, because it allowed for inaccuracy, though bombing from lower altitudes was preferable. The substance was loaded into 16-inch tubes and dropped from the airplanes.
There is a large section of the book about the firebombing of Japan, with Napalm. The United States destroyed about 50 cities in Japan with incendiary attacks. These bombings started a couple of months before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th.
The weapon was ideal for Japan, with its wooden and paper domiciles. The weapon suited the Bomber Mafia well, because they liked the idea of making civilian populations suffer. The most horrific firebombing took place in Tokyo. About 79% of the city was set ablaze. 80,000-90,000 Japanese civilians died in that firebombing.
Why You Should Read This Book
“The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War” is an easy book to read, and you should read it because Gladwell knows what he is doing. He writes for a large audience and tries to write bestsellers, so there is an entertaining tone in the book. To boot, there are several interesting stories and facts you will learn while reading the book.
“The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War” is a popular book by Malcolm Gladwell. It is easy to read and was clearly written for popular consumption. The fact that the United States undertook intense bombing campaigns that the Bomber Mafia believed were necessary to win the war. The Bomber Mafia was key to these developments.
If you are interesting the this book, head over to the official Malcolm Gladwell website or wherever books are sold.
