《異數》、《解密陌生人》作者葛拉威爾最新著作！
當人道主義與科技發生衝突，該如何面對這一難題？
 
　　在第一次世界大戰期間，做為空軍前身的戰鬥單位，首度加入美軍。這一空中軍力，在戰爭初期只負責偵查敵人的移動方位，被許多軍事專家斷言，僅適合擔任輔助角色，無法成為主要戰力的一環。
 
　　然而，有一小群人卻視戰鬥機為未來決勝的關鍵武器。1930年代，這群人稱「戰鬥機黑手黨」的理想主義戰略家認為，當時戰爭的戰鬥方式存在改進空間，應有更好帶領軍隊戰鬥的方法，能有效削弱敵軍，並讓犧牲的人數大幅減少、降低所有國家所承受的傷痛。
 
　　他們試圖著手改造戰爭的樣貌，最終卻失敗了。
 
本書描述「戰鬥機黑手黨」所懷抱的、讓戰爭變得更人性的夢想，以及當現實再再揭示這個夢想無法實現，當他們能以背離自己原則和信念的方式贏得戰爭時，他們會如何選擇，又為第二次世界大戰與現今世界，帶來了什麼影響。
 
　　來自葛拉威爾廣受好評、獲2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards最佳歷史類節目獎的podcast節目「Revisionist History」，《戰鬥機黑手黨》深入剖析，當新的科技、機器、工具與想法出現，帶來道德難題，這一切是如何改變了我們的選擇與行動後果。這不僅是一部翻轉了世界大戰史觀的精彩作品，葛拉威爾在本書中碰觸的主題，更是如今人們在面對無數挑戰時，所遭遇的共同核心難題。(文/博客來編譯)
 
　　"葛拉威爾又一顛覆思維力作！深究至今仍引發爭議的歷史問題。"---科克斯書評雜誌Kirkus Reviews
 
　　"葛拉威爾提供了許多豐富的細節，並拋出戰爭道德問題，反思第二次世界大戰最致命空襲的原因。書迷將能透過本書，洞見「科技如何偏離了其原本的目的」。 "---出版人週刊Publishers Weekly

　　An exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war

 

　　In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.

 

　　Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists had a different view. This “Bomber Mafia” asked: What if precision bombing could, just by taking out critical choke points—industrial or transportation hubs—cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal?

 

　　In his podcast, Revisionist History, Gladwell reexamines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In TheBomber Mafia, he steps back from the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war and asks, “Was it worth it?” The attack was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost tens of thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared more by averting a planned US invasion.

 

　　Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Hansell believed in precision bombing, but his theories had been foiled by bad weather, enemy jet fighters, and human error. When he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II.

 

　　The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.