I would like to recommend this book for the blog. “The Bomber Mafia” by Malcolm Gladwell – a writer who I have found is from the school of “America Won The War All By itself”. All that being said there is a number of interesting side stories. This is a new edition to the RPL and I picked it off the floor display on spec as I was killing time one afternoon. I ended up reading it as – I can’t believe it – my sister bought the book as she has read a number of Gladwell’s offerings.
The book focuses on Curtis LeMay and his theory about the US bombing strategy in the Second World War. It seems that there competing strategies for conducting the bombing campaign in WW2 and he was the ultimate victor according to Gladwell. What is interesting over and above this discussion is some of the side stories that are revealed. In my opinion one of the most interesting side notes is how the jet stream influenced the use of napalm in the bombing of Japan. This is just one of a number of chapters that provide an insight on the campaign and of course there are other factors the author addresses in Lemay’s favour – rightly or wrongly.
I have read other sources that indicate that if the Axis powers would have won the war that Lemay would have been one of the first Americans on the gallows. Such is history and how it is portrayed by the victors.
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