The Bomber Mafia

In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell recounts the story of a group of Military leaders led by Air Force generals Harold L. George and Haywood S. Hansell who, during WWII attempted to change military doctrine towards long-range, precision bombing of key “choke points” (e.g. ball bearing factories in Schweinfurt Germany) as a way to avoid casualties and hasten the end of the war. Ultimately, technological advances such as the Norden bomb sight were not sufficient to execute the strategy effectively and the US Military reverted to area-bombing lead by general Curtis LeMay. The book is a brief but sober look at the morality of these strategies in ending the war sooner.