The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell

This is much like Gladwell's other books, which are well told stories that have an element of journalistic investigation, but are not scientific treatises or history textbooks, in this case. I really enjoyed this, which is designed as an audiobook with original interviews and broadcasts included, but it is not for a WWII history buff I would imagine. It is short, maybe not 100% accurate, and skips over parts that are important but not part of the story he wants to tell. He tries to explain how the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) came to conduct firebombing raids over Japan in spring 1945. These raids, which preceded the atomic bombs, resulted in significantly more damage to the Japanese homeland but are often overshadowed by the atomic bombs. The central topic of Gladwell’s thesis is the firebombing effort and the relief of Gen. Haywood Hansell as commander of the XXI Bomber Command with his replacement, airpower icon Gen. Curtis E. LeMay. He begins with addressing how the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) at Maxwell Field, Alabama, developed the idea of precision daylight bombing. This untested doctrine became a mantra for true believers in airpower, especially when combined with the emerging technology of the time. As aircraft performance increased in speed, range, and payload, framers of the precision bombing doctrine became increasingly convinced their ideas held great promise. The author also includes a lengthy discussion of how the irascible Carl Norden developed his famous bomb sight that, when merged with aircraft performance, seemingly enabled marksmanship-like precision for the USAAF. Convinced that this marriage of technology and airpower would be decisive in an upcoming war, ACTS acolytes looked to validate their ideas with almost religious zeal. He veers off a bit far on the parallels between religion and belief in other things for my taste, but he does ably demonstrate the dangers of not having an open mind. The book veers off course several times, but it is what Gladwell does best, which is following his interests and taking us along with him.