Malcolm Gladwell is not so much an author as he is a cultural phenomenon. On his popular podcast “Revisionist History,” he reexamines historical events and discusses whether or not we got it right. He also penned one of the most discussed and culturally penetrating works of the last 20 years, OUTLIERS, which took a hard look at the small percentage of individuals who stand out above the spectrum and what makes them tick as they set themselves apart from everyone else.

Now, Gladwell directs his attention to World War II, specifically military history. In this case, it is the group of special people who were behind the elite military fliers who changed the outcome of the war and were known as the “Bomber Mafia.” No one can describe this book better than Gladwell, who says, “THE BOMBER MAFIA is a case study in how dreams go awry. And how, when some new, shiny idea drops down from the heavens, it does not land, softly, in our laps. It lands hard, on the ground, and shatters.”

"Gladwell always had an interest in military planes and the destruction they can cause.... [THE BOMBER MAFIA is] a story of obsession --- a service to his own obsessions and those of the men he highlights here."

Gladwell always had an interest in military planes and the destruction they can cause. During WWII, a stray German bomb landed in his grandparents’ back garden outside of London and didn’t go off. This intrigued him to no end and most likely led to his desire to learn more about military bombers and the men behind these missions. It’s a story of obsession --- a service to his own obsessions and those of the men he highlights here.

One of the key military moves made during the Pacific campaign of WWII was General Curtis Emerson LeMay replacing the brilliant young General Haywood Hansell. LeMay brought that extra something that the military needed to be victorious, and he was already a hero bomber in his efforts against Germany in the European campaign. Eccentric Dutch inventor Carl L. Norden also played a major role as he created the Norden bombsight, a way for bombers to better pinpoint their targets from high altitudes and speeds.

The book focuses on the leaders of the Air Corps Tactical School, which earned the “Bomber Mafia” tag. Harold George was known as the spiritual leader of this group of highly enthusiastic young military minds. They proved themselves by first teaming up with Britain’s Royal Air Force on a series of midnight bombing raids, a tactic normally not taken by the Americans. The British had their own version of the Mafia, and their leader, Frederick Lindemann, ended up working very well with his American allies. In America, the Bomber Mafia dreamed of a world where bombs were used with dazzling precision. Lindemann showed them the opposite approach, and a combination of the two worked.

The next success for the Bomber Mafia came when they utilized 230 B-17 bombers to target ball-bearing factories in Schweinfurt, Germany. This was devastating to the German war effort and served as one of the final blows in defeating them. Twelve O’Clock High, a 1949 film starring Gregory Peck, revolved around these victories.

The Bomber Mafia was successful not just because of their military minds, but because they brought in a number of outside individuals with different talents. One such person was Leon Festinger, a social psychologist who devised the perfect way to select pilots for their missions. Prior to the use of the atomic bomb, the one invention that had the most impact towards the end of WWII was napalm. These bombs of fire were specifically created to burn down Japanese cities, towns and villages with mass destruction as the end result. It was here where the mind of Curtis LeMay was on full display as the strategic napalm strikes he choreographed were devastatingly effective.

Gladwell also discusses how years later he was sitting amongst a group of high-ranking military air force leaders who were talking about the creation of the Stealth Bomber, the modern-day equivalent of LeMay’s B-29s. High-altitude precision bombing --- something only true members of the Bomber Mafia could appreciate.