Choosing the Paths of War: A Review of The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell

 

The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through the Goodreads Giveaway program. The views expressed are mine and not that of the author, publisher, or Goodreads.)

Though I have heard him on radio shows like The TED Radio Hour and have thoroughly enjoyed his insights, I have never actually read a Malcom Gladwell book. But when I read the description for this book, I knew that this would be right up my alley. Having recently finished this book, I can understand why people love his works so much. Combining history, technology, and a propulsive narrative, Mr. Gladwell explores the development of bomber technology leading up to and during World War II and meditates on the ethics and tactics at the very heart of modern war.

Starting in the period between World War I and World War II, Mr. Gladwell follows the rise and fall of “the bomber mafia”, a group of U.S. Army Air Force boosters who believed that advances in bomber tech made it possible to end wars quickly by targeting key infrastructure, or chokepoints, such as factories, bridges, etc., that would make it impossible for the enemy to effectively conduct war.  With the creation of bombers such as the B-29 Superfortress and the Norden bombsight, they believed they had a chance to prove their theories.  But when those theories turned out to be just out of their reach, less scrupulous generals such as Curtis LeMay and the invention of napalm would lead to such horrendous bombings as the fire bombing of Japan.

For World War II buffs, the general outline of the U.S. bombing campaign is already well known.  But what Mr. Gladwell does is that he also charts the intellectual progression of the Air Force’s biggest boosters as well as the technologies they relied on.  He also gives sympathetic portraits of all the key figures.  Even Gen. Curtis LeMay, who is so often portrayed as a warmonger in American history, is treated with sympathy.

Throughout it all, Mr. Gladwell also meditates on the ethics and tactics behind war.  Specifically, the ethics behind precision bombing favored by the bomber mafia and the carpet bombing favored by Gen. Curtis LeMay.  At the heart of it is this question: what is the most ethical (moral) way to wage war?  Should attempts be made to reduce casualties to an absolute minimum?  Or should you ratchet up the death and destruction in an attempt to shorten the war?  Mr. Gladwell seems to have a particular point of view on this question and he does stretch his point at times, but he doesn’t shortchange the other side’s arguments either.  So, not only is this a great short history of the advancements in bomber tech during World War II, it is also a meditation and case study on the ethics of war itself.

Overall, this was a great little history book.  It is short enough and written in such a way that a layman can enjoy, but with enough details to enlighten both laymen and history buffs.  While this won’t replace any of your histories on World War II, it is a great thought-provoking supplement that should not be missed.

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Quantum Heist: A Review of Randomize by Andy Weir

Randomize by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Andy Weir seemingly shot out of nowhere to become one of the biggest contemporary sci-fi authors with his book The Martian. With his blend of realistic science and dark humor, I fell completely in love with it and recommended it to so many people. I even loved the Ridley Scott movie adaptation that came out later. When an author becomes an overnight sensation, the next questions people ask is what will they write next and will it be just as good as his first work. While I have yet to read Mr. Weir's sophomore novel, Artemis (I'm getting to it!), after reading this short story, I do believe that Mr. Weir's narrative powers will hold up just fine over a long and promising career.

Set in a Las Vegas casino in the near future, Mr. Weir relates a tale of a high-risk, high-reward heist. The thieves though are not a bunch of hardened master criminals straight out of Ocean's Eleven, but a brilliant husband and wife team with an intimate knowledge of quantum mechanics, quantum computing, and how it can be used to rig a Keno game. In less than 30 pages, Mr. Weir both engages the reader with his heist story and does a fairly good job of explaining quantum mechanics and computing to novices like me. And, like Mr. Weir's other characters, when the chips are down the characters in this book must rely on their wits to get themselves out. Like his other works, Mr. Weir makes being smart cool and completely necessary to succeed.

One thing that is lacking from this book is Mr. Weir's signature humor. While none of the characters are particularly dour, neither are any of them particularly humorous. Of course, not every Andy Weir work has to be funny, but, especially towards the end, a little humor to break the tension would have been appreciated.

Overall, this is an excellent short story that one can knock out in about an hour. For anyone who has been hesitant to pick up an Andy Weir novel, this could be a good introduction to one of the best sci-fi authors working today.

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Social Media is a Battlefield: Review of LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media by P.W. Singer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When it first launched, Facebook and other social media was seen as a cool, if benign, piece of technology that the internet had made possible. After the the 2016 election, the public was made aware of how social media could be used as a tool to manipulate an election, a very unsettling development. However, as the authors of this jaw-dropping book make clear, social media is not just some tool to keep in touch with friends any more. Social media is a new battlefront in both cyber warfare and traditional warfare. What happens online cannot only sway elections, it can also get people killed.

Starting with an introduction noting the different and unique ways social media has been used in recent years, such as ISIS's use of it as they were invading Mosul and Donald Trump's use of Twitter before and during his presidency, the authors show how social media has become a new battlefield. And what happens online can have deadly consequences in real life. One of the more shocking stories they relate is how gangs in America have been "cyber tagging" people's online profiles and then killing those people in real life. Online beefs are leading to bodies in the street in America and elsewhere. There are many more stories they relate about the dangers of this new battlefield, but I do not want to spoil this book any more than I have.

The book is not all bleak though. The authors note how cyber activists and the military have been using social media to combat terrorism and gather intelligence. One uplifting story is about how cyber activists combed social media to determine that it was Russian forces that shot down MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. So, for the old internet enthusiasts, there is hope that the internet can still be used for more than nefarious purposes.

But the authors never want the readers to forget that the internet and social media have left their adolescence and it is up to us and our elected leaders to determine what the internet will be moving forward. Will it continue to be the free-wheeling wild west sphere it has been, or will regulation become necessary? That's what the debate is at this point. For anyone who is concerned about the power of social media and its misuse by bad actors and authoritarian regimes, this is the first book you should read.

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Twists and Turns: A Review of The Brightest Fell

The Brightest Fell by Nupur Chowdhury

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(Note: I received an e-book ARC of this book from the author. The views written in this review are my own and do not reflect that of the author or publisher.)

If you're a country that has just pulled itself out of a devastating civil war with a fragile peace, what would you do to maintain that peace? And if your a scientist that has possibly developed the answer through the use of a wonder drug that isn't quite ready yet, what would you do to protect it? This is the basic set up for this taut sci-fi political thriller.

Set in the fictional nation of Naijan, Jehan Fasih is a brilliant scientist that has developed a drug that can either curb violent tendencies in a population, thus significantly reducing violent crimes in a country just coming out of a civil war, or make people compliant. Fasih wants to keep this project out of the wrong hands and bloodlessly seizes the reins of power in his country to ensure that. But the family he betrayed and disgraced will not forget what has been done to them so easily. Thus the stage is set for a wonderful sci-fi political thriller.

The story is top-notch as the author weaves a very good plot through many twists and turns. At the same time, each of the main characters have their own personal reasons for doing the things that they do, so it feels like there are real stakes involved with each characters' decision. While this book is a little exposition heavy, there are moments of pure action that break up all the talking just enough to keep the story from being weighed down. Sometimes, I really didn't want to put this book down.

For those of you who like a like political thrillers a la James Patterson or a sci-fi lite read, I would highly recommend this book.

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Tell All Your Friends, but for God's Sake, Don't Freak Them Out!: The Lessons of Derek Thompson's "Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction"

There is a common complaint that most if not all of us have made after seeing a movie, watching a TV show, or listening to a piece of music: "How did this become popular?"  I know I have that feeling every time I come across something having to do with Pokémon. Even as a kid I did not understand its appeal.  Nor do I understand how its appeal can spawn one of the most recent and most hyped fads in recent memory, the Pokémon Go! mobile app that swept through the country last year.  But could there be something to popularity?  Is there a secret recipe for making a hit in art & media today?  

Enter Derek Thompson's book, Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction published by Penguin Press in 2017.   According to the biography on this book's jacket flap, Mr. Thompson "is a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine, where he writes about economics and the media."  He's also been named on Inc. magazine's and Forbes's 30 under 30 lists, so clearly this author is someone to watch in the future.  This book is built upon several articles Mr. Thompson wrote for The Atlantic in 2013, 2014, and 2016.  Mr. Thompson's premise is what was just described above: how does a hit become a hit?  What is the secret sauce?

I would recommend you read this book for yourself to find out, but here are some of the key insights I took away from reading this book this past week.