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A review by dirtyclod
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell
3.0
This book was not to my liking because it is written from an moderate, normalized, militaristic American view. This is a phenomenal book for those who are interested in American and aviation history but is void of critical politics lens. The portrayal of this subject in a manner of objectivity, emotionally compelling facts base, and perceived unbiased retelling is deeply political.
Most striking to me was the very little space provided for Japanese perspective being on the receiving end of much of the books events. I can only recall references to two Japanese people regarding the shocking firebombing of Tokyo in 1944. One was the account of a woman who survived because when she was freezing to death in the river to avoid the napalm, she kept herself warm by the burning bodies surrounding her that she could not recognize initially as bodies. And the second was the recollection of A American military historian presenting on the fire bombing of Japan while in Tokyo and recalling that a Japanese military historian said we owe a thank you do you Americans for the atomic bomb and fire bombing because otherwise we would’ve surrendered much later in the war.
Most striking to me was the very little space provided for Japanese perspective being on the receiving end of much of the books events. I can only recall references to two Japanese people regarding the shocking firebombing of Tokyo in 1944. One was the account of a woman who survived because when she was freezing to death in the river to avoid the napalm, she kept herself warm by the burning bodies surrounding her that she could not recognize initially as bodies. And the second was the recollection of A American military historian presenting on the fire bombing of Japan while in Tokyo and recalling that a Japanese military historian said we owe a thank you do you Americans for the atomic bomb and fire bombing because otherwise we would’ve surrendered much later in the war.