{"product_id":"the-bomber-mafia-a-dream-a-temptation-and-the-longest-night-of-the-second-world-war","title":"The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003eEditors' Choice In \u003ci\u003eThe Bomber Mafia\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e Malcolm Gladwell weaves 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMost military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the \"Bomber Mafia,\" asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy \u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e make war far less lethal? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In \u003ci\u003eThe Bomber Mafia, \u003c\/i\u003eGladwell asks, \"Was it worth it?\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThings might have gone differently had LeMay's predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but 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. \u003ci\u003eThe Bomber Mafia \u003c\/i\u003eis a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.","brand":"Landmark Booksellers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40631471210669,"sku":"9780316296618","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0586\/1385\/8477\/products\/img_66f9e42d-ac5f-48e0-a772-9d14c0982074.jpg?v=1631186007","url":"https:\/\/landmark-booksellers.myshopify.com\/products\/the-bomber-mafia-a-dream-a-temptation-and-the-longest-night-of-the-second-world-war","provider":"Landmark Booksellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}