I couldn’t put The Bomber Mafia down, and now that I’ve finished it my mind keeps drifting back to the huge moral dilemmas it explores. And to a small personal dilemma: should I have found a book about aerial bombardments in World War Two so enjoyable to read? Gladwell’s narrative is exhilarating – but there is horrific human cost at the centre of his story.
Malcolm Gladwell is a master of his craft, presenting this well researched history with all the twists and turns, misdirection and sudden pivots of a finely plotted thriller. He knows which details and diversions will pique his reader’s interest. He introduces characters that repel, but then requires you to re-evaluate. His conversational style (I wasn’t surprised to learn this book originated as a podcast) is as accessible as the subject matter is challenging.
If you are prepared for your brain to be left thrumming with cognitive dissonance, you’ll appreciate The Bomber Mafia. This book would be an excellent choice for a reading group.

'The Bomber Mafia' by Malcom Gladwell focusses on the possibilities and moral ambiguities of aerial warfare. From carpet bombing/area bombing, precision bombing, napalm and drone strikes, Gladwell reports on the way in which scientists and engineers have shaped war through their discoveries. Accidents in labs, such as finding that a plastic keeps setting fire, can have devastating results, as well as potentially shorten a war and prevent other negative consequences. Technology failures, such as a bomb sight that promises more than it delivers, can mean moral principles are trumped by effectiveness.

Initially I thought this book would be a hard read. I have enjoyed previous Gladwell books, but thought this might be heavy going. Instead, I kept coming back to it and found it a quick read. It doesn't preach, or try to take a particular side, but instead shows the grey areas in decision making during war time. It has left me with a lot to think about.

You simply wish Malcolm Gladwell could be your history teacher. As a big fan of his podcast Revisionist History, you can hear him talking to you while reading the book. His enthusiasm jumps from every single page, like a kid in a candy store.

This felt a bit different to previous Gladwell books that I've read, in that the subject matter is based on warfare and specifically the 1930s and 1940s. But all the same, at its core it's another examination of human behaviours and misunderstandings, and how that impacted the aerial war during WWII. This first started as a podcast, I think, and it slightly reads that way - you can imagine the words being spoken out loud as you read it.

You never know what you're in for with Malcolm Gladwell! And I mean it in the best way possible.
I don't even remember what exactly I did expect from this book, but certainly not to learn about high and low altitude bombing, the invention of napalm and the rest.
It is brilliantly written and even if you're not interested in that part of history, it will consume you. 
We learn about how techniques were invented or discovered, what went wrong and what went right, how things get discovered accidentally and researches buried because they are written in Esperanto.
What I also didn't expect is the story of moral choices and how different outcomes were.. it's a big lesson though, where in my opinion right moral choice did lose a battle, but won the war.
Would read it all over again if I could.

An interesting read, about the American air corps bomber doctrine during the second world war.
The book focuses on 3 main people, Curtis Lemay & General Hansell and the inventor of the Norden bombsight Carl Norden, who enabled the "bomber mafia" to create and push forward the doctrine of precision bombing.
The book takes a brief look at the efforts of bomber command in the European theatre but mainly concentrates on the Pacific and Lemay and his doctrine of area bombing like the British.
It was an enjoyable book to read and is a good look at the competing factions who created American bomber doctrine asking the question, which would win a war quicker, short sharp precision attacks or mass area bombing
A worthwhile read, but only briefly examines a complex and moral issue.
For people who agonise over Dresden and Bomber Commands area bombing, reading this and learning about the Americans using napalm on the fire raids and the destruction wreaked on Japan, causing more devastation than Bomber Command did to Germany.
The first Malcolm Gladwell book I have read and will read more.
Thank you to the publishers and to Net Galley for the advanced copy to review.

Both my parents were involved with RAF Bomber Command in WW2. My father being aircrew and my mother in RAF Intelligence, therefore the background story of the Bomber Mafia really intrigued me. The book was totally absorbing and brought many new facts to light.
The Bomber Mafia were a small group of US airmen who believed that precision bombing from high altitude was the optimum way to win a war. To this aim, a highly advanced bombsight was designed and developed by an eccentric inventor called Norden. Its purpose was to factor in many bombing-related algorithms including wind speed, height, the velocity of the aircraft, air pressure, the spin of the earth, etc. However, in practice, it failed due to unexpected meteorological conditions, targets obscured by smoke, and the very cold temperature in the bomb aimer's position.
The USAAF ignored the well-proven advice of the RAF in the European campaign and refused to bomb Germany at night. Consequently, the early US daylight precision bombing raids were an unmitigated disaster, with many losses of aircrews The British doctrine being to area-bomb cities after dark, minimising aircraft losses, even though a high percentage of bombs missed their targets.,
Curtis LeMay, a brilliant, yet ruthless, American bombing commander is discussed, and almost hero-worshipped in the book. It is intriguing that the author states that he believes the British leader of Bomber Command (Arthur Harris) was a psychopath because he concentrated on destroying German cities and lowering the population's morale. Yet he considered LeMay a hero, even though he fervently believed in napalming dozens of Japanese cities, killing many thousands of innocent civilians.
I really like the author's style of writing and his obvious passion for the subject. The personal stories and anecdotes of the main characters brought the story to life.
I really want to give this book full marks, but the author's dismissive remarks on the top leadership of the RAF Bomber Command, at such a difficult time in the war, makes it impossible. The book lacks a balanced view of the bombing campaign in Europe. That said, it was an absorbing read!

The Bomber Mafia is an exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war in which bestselling history writer Malcolm Gladwell 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 to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the aeroplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, The Bomber Mafia, had a different view. They 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 re-examines 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.

However, he may have spared even 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. This is a compelling, enthralling and intensely captivating piece of history writing and has a richly described and information-packed nonfiction narrative. It's plain for all to see that it is extensively researched and penned by a passionate history connoisseur and lover of World War II stories. It's thoroughly engrossing and at many points reads like a thriller or espionage novel in the sense that unexpected events occur, atrocities happen and the writing flows seamlessly allowing it to read all the more easily. A scintillating, palpably tense and eminently readable book from start to conclusion and a no-brainer for those into history books written by experts in their field. Highly recommended.

I chose this book as it was out of my comfort zone and a totally different genre to my general reading.
Being a Veteran myself, and having grown up around an RAF Base I was intrigued.
Malcolm is very knowledgeable and has gone through great lengths to be as detailed as possible and his writing is enthusiastic and enjoyable.

If my dad didn't have dementia, he would certainly have loved to read this on its release.

If you are interested in war and air force missions, in particular the missions that involve plains and bombs or are interested in the Bomber Mafia and their history, this is a must read.

The enjoyment and oh wow factor for me was very high, I read it in two days.

Not a bad book but not exactly as good as the past ones written by him. It may be that the topic of war and bombing cities is not my cup of tea, so I am not so interested in the details on how they managed to kill thousands perfecting the target location. Also, I found this book very confusing, a lot of names, a lot of stories half explained, I did not really got what he was trying to explain

The Bomber Mafia is a good read for anyone who is interested in the history of aviation or the history of the Second World War. Before reading this account I wasn’t aware of the existence of different bombing tactics being used by the USAF and the RAF during the Second World War.

The Bomber Mafia gives a good explanation of the attempted methods used by the USAF, where they were developed, how they were deployed and eventually why they were abandoned.

I've read a number of Malcolm Gladwell's books and like his writing style, references and how I can take away key messages. Though this book was written in a slightly different style to what I've read before, focused on the air history of the WWII I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story telling was very good, the way he describes the different characters and through his research he brings them to life really well. How they had different mindsets and what this meant in terms of results and outcomes was something that also was very clear.

Personally I would not have picked up the book from the title or cover but was pleasantly surprised by the content and particularly the level of research and history Gladwell conveyed.

An interesting but different slant on WW2, a short book but fully packed with interesting facts. Well worth a read for any war fanatic.

I have read Malcolm Gladwell's other books and was expecting a similar style so this took me by surprise. It is more a straight account of the activity of the U.S. airmen known as the Bomber Mafia during WW2 and how the use of technology and different styles of leadership influenced the bombing campaigns in German and later Japan.

I found it very interesting but at times a bit upsetting with the amount of details of just how callous the bombing could be. I knew very little of the history and geography of the things spoken about in this book and did find it fascinating and am very glad to have read it.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Malcolm Gladwell did excellent and passionate research in the field to build this book. His fascination with the bombing and history behind the scene can absorb you from the first pages to the end. The bombing mafia exposes what happened behind the well-known facts and describes the needs for changes in the airforce.

This book fills gaps in our knowledge of World War II and explains the nature of different war strategies. Fascinatingly, it has undercovered the main reason for creating bombsights. Evaluation of the past conflicts, such as WW I or the war with Vietnam, became the reason for technological development and creation of intelligent weapons and withdraw collateral damage. The book concentrates on why omitting the British night bombing was a better idea and why a group of men wanted to change the airforce for good - seeing bombing more as quickly and precisely and explaining the complicated nature of the problem.

While reading, I sit absorbed to the last page of the book. All points were combined in fantastic order, not only opening my eyes to the history, filling my knowledge with the details that I couldn't gain from movies. This book is not only for history fanatics, very well recommended.

I am usually a great fan of Malcolm Gladwell but this book left me with a mixed feeling. Like any other Gladwell’s book, this book also tries to peel the layers of a philosophy or an idea. But I felt that this didn’t really finished but somehow remained unfinished.

As expected from Malcolm Gladwell, this book sucks you in from start to finish. In specific subject matter, this book differs greatly from his others, discussing the history of the Air Force's bombing strategy starting in World War II, but in addition to capturing the personal stories of the men involved, it manages to touch on psychology, philosophy, and religion. In feel, it's very much a Gladwell book.

I chose this book (an advance reading copy), from NetGalley believing it was a fictional thriller set in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

How wrong was I, but in a blink of an eye I had a book I couldn’t put down. This is an account of a group of senior minds in the USA airforce who became fixated on precision bombing to reduce innocent civilian casualties and hasten the end of conflict by strategically bombing factories and war production vital for your enemy’s ability to continue to fight on.

This was a group of obsessive but influential men who wanted to avoid the British approach at all costs as their aircrews were trained with computer like bombsights, and needed to raid in clear skies from high attitude.
I did know that the British bombed at night while the Americans seemed to have the more dangerous daytime raids over Germany. But I didn’t know why - this book simply explains why this was the status quo.

I was also aware of Bomber Harris who led the fire bombing on Germany, and I have read about how this impacted cities like Dresden. This book again casts a more discerning eye on this situation and outcome.

I knew the Americans dropped two atomic weapons to shorten the war and bring Japan to its knees and accept surrender to save countless lives needed to invade those islands.

This book is so much more; not just filling a few gaps in my knowledge but informing me, just how little I knew about the changing role of the airforce. This development of how warplanes were deployed is quite fascinating. The simple geography of how Japan was simply outside the range of bombers.

The most compelling account is the clash of ideas and the pragmatic solutions sought to wage war on a distant enemy. That Japanese cities were bombed beyond those I knew about, in a fashion I scarcely want to image.

The further we get from these events the less we seem to appreciate it was a different time and lacking much of the technology we now take for granted. Block buster films have made World War II seem more real and technically adept in all things military but this book was needed for me to grasp the significance of warfare in the 1940s.

It also explains the genesis of ideas and responses to events. Why Vietnam was fought by the Americans in certain ways and how the immediacy and public opinion can stifle democracies engaging in a clean fight and fair contest.

I found his book totally absorbing, history made alive and although non-fiction, it did read like a wartime thriller.

This book is fascinating as it gives a comprehensive insight on the doctrine of the allied Bombing Campaigns of World War ll. Starting with the embryonic bombing efforts in WW l and continuing with the evolution of the use of bombers in future conflicts during the inter-war years, doctrines were developed and adopted with only minimal testing that were soon to be proven ineffective in the upcoming conflict. The technological limitations of aircraft equipment combined with the uncontrollable element of weather conditions soon proved the early doctrines to be flawed; despite this, the early bombing leadership initially stuck to the flawed strategy at terrible cost in aircrew and aircraft. Only when there was a change of leadership in both the European and Pacific theatres of operation with a change in operational doctrine, did the bombing offensives become more effective.
The research for this book is very thorough and the description of the individuals and their personalities show that eventually the right person came to the fore to achieve the successes required to prosecute the campaigns. In addition, the lessons learnt from these conflicts have driven technological solutions to be developed for the era of ‘smart’ weapons that can minimize collateral damage.

I read the synopsis and did not believe a word of it. In spite of that I "gave it a go" and was amazed to discover that the synopsis undersold the book and that, as outlandish as it all seemed, it was all true and then some.

If you have any curiosity as to what went on behind the scenes to set up independent and self-ruled air forces in the US and to some extent in the UK after 1919 and then the hoops the Americans had to jump through to make their air force work at all, this is absolutely a book that you should read.

I would also say that if, like me, you find truth to be often stranger than fiction then this is definitely a book for you too. Overall, a fascinating and engrossing book that I have no hesitation in recommending.