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

The central theme of the book is the interplay between technology and morality. In Gladwell’s own words, the book is about “what happens when morality and technology collide” (“Malcolm Gladwell on The Bomber Mafia.” YouTube, uploaded by Little, Brown and Company, 14 April 2021). He calls the story very “contemporary,” something “we now go through all the time” (“Malcolm Gladwell and ‘The Bomber Mafia’ | Amanpour and Company.” YouTube, uploaded by Amanpour and Company, 3 May 2021).

Using the topic of bombing during World War II, Gladwell examines how technology is used when it could be employed for both good and for ill purposes. The Norden bombsight was thought by some to have the potential to change how war was waged. The pilots who were dubbed the Bomber Mafia thought that it could spare the lives of tens of thousands, if not millions, of soldiers and civilians. The First World War was a shock to the world, with huge armies dug into trenches across Europe fighting with modern, mechanized weapons that turned out to be mass killing machines. The Battle of the Somme in 1916, for instance, killed or wounded over 1 million people, yet “had no discernible point or impact on the course of the war” (17). The thinking of the Bomber Mafia was that planes alone could do most of the fighting and, with an accurate bombsight, pinpoint bombs to take out a country’s vital interests. With enough targets destroyed, they could force the enemy to surrender—all with airpower.

On the other hand was the invention of napalm, a gel formed from aluminum naphthenate and aluminum palmitate. Mixed with gasoline, it burned intensely while sticking to whatever it came into contact with and remaining a gel. This was devised with increased destruction in mind, particular for use against Japan. Soon after the Pearl Harbor attack, analysts noted the vulnerability of Japan’s cities to fire. Most structures were made of wood, and straw mats called tatami were widely used. In addition, streets were narrow, putting all the buildings close together. Fire could easily sweep through such areas, but fire alone would extinguish itself quickly. Thus, napalm was developed to increase the fire by sticking to surfaces and not burning itself out. This took the opposite approach to the Bomber Mafia by causing widespread, indiscriminate destruction and death. Nothing was pinpointed; everything was targeted. The advantage was obvious: There would be no “misses,” and every strike could inflict massive damage, weakening Japan. Proponents of such firebombing argued that America would end the war faster by using it, hence the moral dilemma involved.