If Gladwell is at his worst when he’s fitting anecdotes into preconceived frameworks, he’s at his best when he’s telling a good story. I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of this, though thought in general the overarching analysis missed the mark. The frame of war narrative at times felt out of touch and I wouldn't recommend it for this reason.

Unfortunately this was not for me. It needs more work as some of the themes seem to need more development on the side of the theory.

The narrative itself is engaging and that by itself would have been enough to make a decent book, which would've been much better.

Malcolm Gladwell at this best, bringing to light a topic unheard of, in the way only he can. Recommend for history fans and fans of gladwrlls previous work

"The Bomber Mafia" by Malcolm Gladwell is a fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the moral and strategic complexities of aerial bombing during World War II. Gladwell expertly weaves together historical research, interviews, and personal anecdotes to create a compelling narrative that challenges readers to reconsider their assumptions about warfare and technology. The book is written in Gladwell's signature style, with clear and accessible prose that makes complex ideas easily digestible. "The Bomber Mafia" is a masterful work of nonfiction that will appeal to history buffs, military enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the ethics of warfare. A highly recommended five-star read.

Thank you for providing me with an advance review copy of this book. Enjoyed reading, would recommend....

ive read a few malcolm gladwell books and this one is a bit different to the others. ive always liked reading about ww2 and this was a subject i didn't know much about

Not quite what I was expecting from Malcolm Gladwell, but I enjoyed this book nonetheless. It's informative, interesting and well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This is a Gladwell I didn't know. He writes from a historical perspective exploring a topic – warfare – that has been a personal interest of his for many years, apparently. It is a fascinating and well-illustrated narrative about the role of aircraft in war and in particular, precision bombing. With the usual Gladwell eye for detail and hidden threads, this reads in places more like the yarn one might find in a novel.

When we gat past the propaganda, we all know that the machinery of war can be misguided and yet develop its own momentum until it becomes unstoppable. In this case, what started out as a plausible idea (even though the technology hadn't been invented at that time) eventually produced some of the worst atrocities ever perpetrated against civilians. The irony here is that the original vision was strategic and targeted bombing would save lives!

Nerd that he is, he analyses without allowing his opinions to cloud the evidence, but as an indictment of those who would say that war can have any useful end, the book is all the more powerful for that.

I'm a confirmed fan of Malcolm Gladwell, his books and his podcasts. He finds connections and hidden threads in much the same way as James Burke used to do.

This apparently started as an audiobook and was then transformed into a paper book. And it shows. It's very short and doesn't really give Gladwell a chance to dive deep into the subject. For that, Overy's The Bombing War is a much more detailed book. But the bombing itself isn't the main message of this book. Instead, it's about holding true to your ideals in the face of challenges, refusing to give in to the dark side.

I'm not sure whether Gladwell makes his case here - others have pointed out the contradictions - but it's great fun listening to him try.

I received an ARC of this book - a bit strange when the book has been out for quite a while now!

Gladwell tells the story of the development of bomber aircraft, from the early days of World War I to the present day. He profiles the pioneers of bomber aviation, and tells the story of the bombers that were used in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Gladwell argues that the bomber has been the "perfect weapon" because it is the only type of aircraft that can be used to attack a target from a distance. He also argues that the bomber has been the "reckoning" for the United States because it has been responsible for the deaths of millions of people. The Bomber Mafia is a well-researched and well-written book. Gladwell has preconceived "big ideas" that he aims to present, but these are not as distracting as in some of his previous books.

The author goes through a lot of effort at providing context for rise of the Air Force, it's importance, and the role it played in ending World War 2.

The book suffers from a lot of editorial errors and fact checking mistakes which can cause some readers to be wary about the contents of this book.
Example: The book states Little Boy and Fat Man were dropped from Enola Gay.
This is incorrect, as only the former was dropped from Enola Gay. The latter was dropped from Bockscar.

It pushes folks to read up on the firebombing events in Japan, and asks the readers to question the veracity of the claims made in the book.

Malcolm Gladwell here brings his forensic analysis to the Bomber Mafia, the group of dedicated men who gave themselves over to working out the complicated forensics of accurate bombing. The subject matter may be known to some but this book brings it to a wider audience, which is no bad thing. A complicated story made easier to understand by Gladwell’s engaging writing style.

An interesting and informative book that provides a lot of detail on the characters and decisions made during WWII with little to no opinionating from the Author. Well written and I found it to be well worth taing thie time to understand more about how and why the decisions were made about the bombing raids of the war.

An unusual book as the print version is perhaps the secondary format but still a fascinating and informative read and written in a gripping and easy to grasp style as you would expect from Malcolm Gladwell. Well worth a read.

Interesting, intriguing and thought provoking. A book that i suspect could cause a lot of varying opinions, and discussion. I would happily recommend it.

This is likely to be something of a Marmite book, taking as it does something of a revisionist approach to the bombing campaigns of the Second World War. The author’s premise is that the ambitious claims of precision bombing advocates were abandoned in favour of indiscriminate and even terror bombing. He sets out the history of the technical advances that enabled bombing from the likely height flown by bombers to have a reasonable chance of getting a proportion of bombs near the aiming point but points out that the conditions encountered in real life rarely permitted the theoretical accuracy being achieved. His selective use of quotations to suggest that a continued prosecution of precision bombing of critical vulnerabilities within enemy arms manufacturing centres could have been sufficiently successful to bring an end to the war. This ignores the well-documented dispersal of German war related industries and the use of underground manufacturing facilities and the continued increase in arms manufacture almost to the end of the war.

Gladwell appears to reserve his harshest criticism for the American firebombing campaign of Japanese cities, and the appalling casualties among Japanese civilians, without looking at the wider moral issues that would have been involved if the war had continued, as would have been necessitated in the absence of the bombing campaign, through to a land invasion of the Japanese home islands. For this reader, the issues are much more complex than the author suggests, especially in respect of the anticipated casualties among Japanese civilians, members of the defending forces and the invading Allied forces. War is indeed hell; alternatives to war should be urgently sought. But to do as many did once the war was won and to shuffle away from what was a necessary element of the Allied effort and consign those who flew in RAF Bomber Command to the equivalent of the family’s embarrassing relative whom we don’t talk about was and is shameful.

Malcolm Gladwell puts together an interesting book where he weaves the story with his own insights in addition to original interviews about The Bomber Mafia - a group of idealists who believed that the wars could be less lethal through precision bombing. I read the book along with the audiobook which was so interesting with sound bites from the original interviewees. Definitely an interesting read for people who enjoy history and technology, I would definitely recommend the audiobook along with the ebook!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy.

Gladwell brings history to life with his entertaining and digestible style. The tales he weaves are full of his own passion for this particular slice of history, and his clear fascination makes it all the more intriguing for us.
Definitely recommended.

Malcom Gladwell is an excellent popularizer and I was hooked even if I'm not very interested in the topic.
His style of writing and his ability of connecting facts and number kept me hooked and reading.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I absolutely love Malcolm Gladwell and this book was no different. After reading Talking to Strangers when it came out, I went back through the Gladwell releases, reading all of his previous books. When the opportunity to review The Bomber Mafia came along, I was ready to read!

The Bomber Mafia is Gladwell doing what he does best. Making seemingly random facts and anecdotes into compelling and interesting stories and theories.

Great book, would recommend to everyone.