The Bomber Mafia cover art

The Bomber Mafia

A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The Bomber Mafia

By: Malcolm Gladwell
Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

In The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War, Malcolm Gladwell, author of New York Times best sellers including Talking to Strangers and host of the podcast Revisionist History, 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. As listeners hear these stories unfurl, Gladwell examines one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.

Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists had a different view. This “Bomber Mafia” 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 reexamines 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 but may have spared 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.

©2021 Malcolm Gladwell (P)2021 Malcolm Gladwell
Aeronautics & Astronautics Air Forces Armed Forces Astronomy & Space Science Military Science War Thought-Provoking Suspenseful Aviation History Naval Warfare

Listeners also enjoyed...

Miracle and Wonder cover art
I Hate the Ivy League cover art
Outliers cover art
So Many Steves cover art
Making Winners cover art
Liar's Poker cover art
War's End cover art
Dead Reckoning cover art
Higher Animals cover art
Inferno cover art
Dr Strangelove cover art
Ring of Fire I cover art
Enola Gay cover art
Wings of War cover art
Black Snow cover art
Killing Rommel cover art

Critic reviews

The Bomber Mafia is a parable written for the age of technological disruption.” (The Times, London)

"Gladwell is a wonderful storyteller. When he is introducing characters and showing them in conflict, The Bomber Mafia is gripping. I enjoyed this short book thoroughly, and would have been happy if it had been twice as long." (The New York Times)

“An innovative audio book with music, sound effects and archival clips. Gladwell’s easy conversational style works well, and his admiration for the Bomber Mafia shines through.” (The Washington Post)

All stars
Most relevant  
I couldn't stop listening, like a car crash in slow motion. The story is expertly told in the right format as hearing the interviews is wonderful.
My only complaint is how short it is!

A harrowing tale of an evolving dream

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A captivating book from beginning to end.

I loved Gladwell’s last book, talking to strangers, and felt that this follow-up couldn’t possibly compare, but how wrong I was.

From start to finish, this was a compelling account of a part of history that is often neglected and unexplored. The best new book I have read of 2021 so far.

A captivating book from beginning to end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Engaging, thought provoking, excellent production. Finished in two days. An overlooked piece of history brought to life.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Felt a little disappointed at first here, as the book is short and I do listen to revoluionist history podcast so was already with some of the material.
But the presentation is really next generation audible entertainment, the angles in the narrative and the story telling is brilliant.

Great audible presentation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I absolutely loved listening to this book, so much so I actually listened to it twice.

Fantastic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Confronting morality and the human condition in a manner that challenges both the aggressive and the high minded with no easy answers. I don't think I'd have got on with LeMay but is my sense of morality too narrow. Maybe but I don't like it!

Fascinating, horrific, yet hugely thought provoking.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

An interesting exposé of the American Air force's bloody tribulations. It starts with the utter condemnation by the Americans of "'Bomber" Harris' night "Area bombing" of Germany - although at that time, he had no option. Ultimately, the Americans had to adopt the exact same tactic over Japan.

The Norden Optical Bombsight was a HUGELY expensive 'white elephant'. The RAF had been using more accurate electronic methods for years, culminating in 'Radar Bombing' using the "Oboe" system.

A short flight through WW2 US bombing wows.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Has the integrity and quality of a book, and the animated story telling of a podcast with the effects well done

Very well produced

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Malcolm Gladwell can record a 10 hour book about The Brazil Nut, and I will still listen to all of it. such a master-story-teller!

Always a pleasure

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Don’t know why some reviewers are whingeing about this - it’s a beautiful piece of work by Malcolm & the team and they should be proud. My Dad was in WW2 and he would have been fascinated, just like I was.

It’s great history - thx!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews