librophiliac's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this audiobook with clips from the people involved. I haven't read a war history in a while and finding out the origins of napalm was an added bonus!
hanlundie12's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very interesting story to listen to. So many aspects of this that I never thought about. Knowing how much school it requires to work in this area, I knew it was very involved and intricate work. However, it was interesting learning more about it. The author did add a lot of his opinion and not just history, so that could either add or take away from the story, depending on what your views of the wars are.
p_i_journal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.0
torydoughty's review against another edition
3.0
Gladwell's newest book doesn't follow his usual formula, and reads more like a podcast series than a work of nonfiction. As always, he's incredibly well-researched, yet presents the information in a way that's easy to understand. I did enjoy this one, but not as much as his other work. Definitely recommend for anyone interested in WWII history.
coatekm's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.75
quick super interesting read about precision bombing. lots of information in a digestible package and definitely learned something new. brought up interesting morality question about war
bekah_boom's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book. I am a Malcolm Gladwell fan and his style really comes across in this book which made it a page turning read for me. If you aren't into his style it may not be the read for you.
This book explores the beginning of air bombing technology that was used in WWII. Precision bombing was a new technology and the US Air Force (when it was still a part of the Army), specifically the Air Corps Tactical School was obsessed with being able to precisely drop a bomb on a target (into a pickle barrel from 6 miles up). This technique was opposite of current bombing techniques in WWII which were focused on carpet bombing. Across Europe, carpet bombing was used to target civilian areas and theoretically causing nations to surrender as civilians died. To carpet bomb, bomber dropped as many bombs as possible indiscriminately to try and cripple civilian centers.
Precision bombing would be a more humane way to conduct war to cut off tactical points while sparing civilian life. This book explores these two ideas of war and two Air Force Generals who were on the opposing sides of the debate as well as the nuance behind how military leaders conduct war. This all really comes to a head in the Pacific theater and is a fascinating look at the final days of WWII in Japan.
Highly recommend! I learned so much and it was an absolute page turner. I imagine it would be great on audiobook as well.
This book explores the beginning of air bombing technology that was used in WWII. Precision bombing was a new technology and the US Air Force (when it was still a part of the Army), specifically the Air Corps Tactical School was obsessed with being able to precisely drop a bomb on a target (into a pickle barrel from 6 miles up). This technique was opposite of current bombing techniques in WWII which were focused on carpet bombing. Across Europe, carpet bombing was used to target civilian areas and theoretically causing nations to surrender as civilians died. To carpet bomb, bomber dropped as many bombs as possible indiscriminately to try and cripple civilian centers.
Precision bombing would be a more humane way to conduct war to cut off tactical points while sparing civilian life. This book explores these two ideas of war and two Air Force Generals who were on the opposing sides of the debate as well as the nuance behind how military leaders conduct war. This all really comes to a head in the Pacific theater and is a fascinating look at the final days of WWII in Japan.
Highly recommend! I learned so much and it was an absolute page turner. I imagine it would be great on audiobook as well.
ahellebust's review against another edition
2.0
This book was just not for me. I was excited about the content and to learn more about something I knew relatively little about... but I just couldn't ever get into it. After a bit of a trudge, finished it for a book club.