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Summary of Malcolm Gladwell’s Bomber Mafia
- Narrated by: Chad Louwerse
- Length: 23 mins
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Publisher's summary
No time to read? Get the main key insights from this summary of Malcolm Gladwell’s Bomber Mafia in just a short listen.
A few key insights from Chapter 1:
1. Carl L. Norden’s legacy is largely unknown to the public, but his impact on World War II is undeniable. He was a Dutch-born inventor who worked with the US Navy to create the Norden bombsight, an early prototype that allowed planes to accurately drop bombs from high altitudes.
2. Norden was a consummate perfectionist with his work, which meant he was also an absolute nightmare to his employees. He did not care about being rude, but only about doing things right. His nickname was Old Man Dynamite, mostly due to his highly explosive outbursts at work.
3. Norden’s bombsight is one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century. This list also includes vaccines, fertilizers, and the automobile, but the twentieth century is most dramatically defined by the two world wars. The devastation of World War I created the need for better war materials.
4. Airplanes made their first major appearance in World War I, though they were extremely dangerous to fly. But the next generation of pilots sprouted the idea that future wars could be fought no longer in the trenches, but in the skies, where they could be ended quickly without the slaughter of the battlefield.
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Overall
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Drones are transforming warfare through the use of artificial intelligence, drone swarms, and surveillance - leading to competition between the US, China, Israel, and Iran. Who will be the next drone superpower?
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Great history of drone warfare
- By CJ on 02-08-24
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The Second Sino-Japanese War
- A Captivating Guide to Military Conflict That Began Between China and Japan, Including Events Such as the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria and the Nanjing Massacre
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Many people in the West look upon the Second Sino-Japanese War, which took place in the 1930s and 1940s, as a sort of sideshow to the larger Second World War, but there is no separating the two. Imagine the Pacific War, the theater of World War II that took place in the Pacific. If the Japanese were not busy fighting on another front, they would have had millions of more troops available to fight the Americans and the British. In all likelihood, World War II would have ended the same way, but it would have taken much longer and cost that many more lives.
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A good summary of Japan leading up to WW2
- By M Maurer on 11-18-21
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Engineers of Victory
- The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
- By: Paul Kennedy
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul Kennedy, award-winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers and one of today’s most renowned historians, now provides a new and unique look at how World War II was won. Engineers of Victory is a fascinating nuts-and-bolts account of the strategic factors that led to Allied victory. Kennedy reveals how the leaders’ grand strategy was carried out by the ordinary soldiers, scientists, engineers, and businessmen responsible for realizing their commanders’ visions of success.
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Misleading title
- By Thomas on 04-10-14
By: Paul Kennedy
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Deathride
- Hitler vs. Stalin: The Eastern Front, 1941-1945
- By: John Mosier
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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John Mosier presents a revisionist retelling of the war on the Eastern Front. The conventional wisdom is that Hitler was mad to think he could defeat the USSR, because of its vast size and population, and that the Battle of Stalingrad marked the turning point of the war. Neither statement is accurate, says Mosier; Hitler came very close to winning outright.
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Speaking the un-speakable
- By Jonathan Gardner on 09-27-10
By: John Mosier
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The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941
- The War in The West, Volume 1
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 27 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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For seven decades, our understanding of World War II has been shaped by a standard narrative built on conventional wisdom, propaganda, the dramatic but narrow experiences of soldiers on the ground, and an early generation of historians. For his new history, James Holland has spent over 12 years unearthing new research, recording original testimony, and visiting battlefields and archives that have never before been so accessible.
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Good Book painfully read
- By richard on 01-21-16
By: James Holland
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The Second World Wars
- How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The Second World Wars examines how combat unfolded in the air, at sea, and on land to show how distinct conflicts among disparate combatants coalesced into one interconnected global war. Drawing on 3,000 years of military history, Victor Davis Hanson argues that despite its novel industrial barbarity, neither the war's origins nor its geography were unusual. Nor was its ultimate outcome surprising. The Axis powers were well prepared to win limited border conflicts, but once they blundered into global war, they had no hope of victory.
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The story behind the story of WW 2
- By LARRY DINKIN on 02-07-19
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The German Aces Speak
- World War II Through the Eyes of Four of the Luftwaffe's Most Important Commanders
- By: Anne-Marie Lewis, Jon Guttman, Brigadier General Robin Olds USAF - Ret., and others
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Few perspectives epitomize the sheer drama and sacrifice of combat more perfectly than those of the fighter pilots of World War II. As romanticized as any soldier in history, the World War II fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the 65-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots' heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries - the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat?
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Not what I hoped for
- By Michael Jacobi on 09-01-20
By: Anne-Marie Lewis, and others
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Atomic Bomb Island
- Tinian, the Last Stage of the Manhattan Project, and the Dropping of the Atomic Bombs on Japan in World War II
- By: Don A. Farrell, Dr. Gordon E. Castanza - editor
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Atomic Bomb Island tells the story of an elite, top-secret team of sailors, airmen, scientists, technicians, and engineers who came to Tinian in the Marianas in the middle of 1945 to prepare the island for delivery of the atomic bombs then being developed in New Mexico, to finalize the designs of the bombs themselves, and to launch the missions that would unleash hell on Japan.
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Required WW2 reading
- By Allen on 04-02-21
By: Don A. Farrell, and others
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Prompt and Utter Destruction
- Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs against Japan, Third Edition
- By: J. Samuel Walker
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In this concise account of why America used atomic bombs against Japan in 1945, J. Samuel Walker analyzes the reasons behind President Truman's most controversial decision. Delineating what was known and not known by American leaders at the time, Walker evaluates the options available for ending the war with Japan. In this new edition, Walker incorporates a decade of new research - mostly from Japanese archives only recently made available - that provides fresh insight on the strategic considerations that led to dropping the bomb.
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Bullshit woke end
- By Fav on 12-19-23
By: J. Samuel Walker
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Britain at Bay
- The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941
- By: Alan Allport
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely the military and political dimensions of the conflict's first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles questions such as: Could the war have been avoided? Could it have been lost? Were the strategic decisions the rights ones? How well did the British organize and fight? How well did the British live up to their own values? What difference did the war make in the end to the fate of the nation?
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A History worth your read
- By Norm the Nonfiction Reader on 08-18-21
By: Alan Allport
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American Heritage History of World War II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose, C. L. Sulzberger
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In planes and foxholes, in deserts and jungles, on ships and beaches, Ambrose shines a light on the people involved - the leaders, the fighters, the victims. With chapters on the atrocities of the Holocaust and revelations about the secret war of espionage, Ambrose's analysis also offers insight into the events that precipitated the Cold War.
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Excellent overview of WWII
- By Laura Kernen on 11-15-18
By: Stephen E. Ambrose, and others