Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Putnam Adult (2008), 640 pages
Description
The masterfully told story of the unlikely men who came together to make the Berlin Airlift one of the great military and humanitarian successes of American history. Author Cherny brings together newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews to tell the story of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who not only saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat but changed how the world viewed the United States. On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union cut off all access to West Berlin, prepared to starve the city into submission. Most of America's top officials considered the situation hopeless. But not all of them. President Harry Truman, frustrated general Lucius Clay, logistics expert Bill Tunner, and secretary of defense James Forrestal improvised and stumbled their way into an unprecedented, uniquely American combination of military and moral force.--From publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This is a tremendously good book, which reads exceptionally well. It convincingly argues that Truman won in 1948 because of the Berlin Airlift. If Wallace had gotten 18,000 more votes in California and 7500 more in Ohio the election would have been thrown into the House of Representative, and if
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Wallace had gotten in additon had gotten 5,836 more in Idaho, 28,562 more in Iowa, 1,934 more in Nevada, and 4,407 more in Wyoming Dewey would have become President. Though I lived through1948, fully aware of the momentousness of the election, I do not recall ever hearing of the candy dropping to Berlin children inaugurated by the now forgotten Hal Halvorsen but the book does a good job of showing how important that was, as well as the organizational genius of General William Tunner, and the untiring tenacity of Lucius Clay in changing the course of history. At the same time the book reminds us that if Bob Taft's and Henry Wallace's views had prevailed the course of history would have been changed for the worse. As one reads one can't help but be grateful that Harry Truman was President and that 1948 turned out to be the magnificent political year it was. This is an inspiring book which is a joy to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member abbot
Cherny's Soviets are stereotypical baddies. Given the current opportunities for research in Russia, it is odd that he provides so little information about the rationale for Soviet actions before and during the blockade. Such information would have enhanced what is otherwise an engaging story about
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the early days of the Cold War. Show Less
LibraryThing member pbadeer
This is a work of non-fiction with a narrative primarily taking place several years AFTER the end of WWII - specifically during the time Germany was divided between the Allies, and the Soviet Union began its efforts to convert "their" sector to communism.
Admittedly, I knew little to nothing about
So virtually everything this book covered was new to me. Someone with a knowledge of that history may find the first part of the book tedious - I found it tedious. You don't actually get to the Title Event (the candy "bombing") until about halfway through the book. For those who don't know, as the Soviet Union began flexing its muscle, since Berlin was wholly within "their" sector (even though Berlin itself was also divided into sectors again), they effectively blockaded the residents of the "western" sectors of Berlin, turning off electricity, gas, food, any resources which needed to pass through the eastern part of Germany in order to get to Berlin. In an attempt to support the residents of "West Berlin" as it was to become, and to prevent all of Berlin from converting to communism which was what the Soviets were trying to instigate, the western allies begain airlifts of supplies - as part of the treaty ending the war, there were allocated air rights for allied planes to fly through to get to Berlin, but there were no roads. So everything had to go by plane. At one point, one individual pilot started dropping candy for the children of Berlin. This individual act developed into a PR program supported by the US military to maintain support of the airlift.
Overall, the facts included in this book were fascinating. At times, some of the details became mundane - and the author spent a lot of time on sidetracks for the personal backgrounds of many of the players which seemed unnecessary - but it gives a great, non-academic overview of that time period and some insight (at least into the author's opinion) of the reasons why some of what happened actually happened. Long, but still a recommended read
Admittedly, I knew little to nothing about
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this specific time frame. Born two generations AFTER the war (my parents were the Baby Boomers), my exposure was limited to the paltry coverage given it in High School history class where my entire conception of the event was that the war ended and then one day Russia built a wall. I was well into adulthood before I even realized that the Berlin wall did not separate West Germany from East Germany - I pictured it kind of like the Great Wall of China...there's public education for you.So virtually everything this book covered was new to me. Someone with a knowledge of that history may find the first part of the book tedious - I found it tedious. You don't actually get to the Title Event (the candy "bombing") until about halfway through the book. For those who don't know, as the Soviet Union began flexing its muscle, since Berlin was wholly within "their" sector (even though Berlin itself was also divided into sectors again), they effectively blockaded the residents of the "western" sectors of Berlin, turning off electricity, gas, food, any resources which needed to pass through the eastern part of Germany in order to get to Berlin. In an attempt to support the residents of "West Berlin" as it was to become, and to prevent all of Berlin from converting to communism which was what the Soviets were trying to instigate, the western allies begain airlifts of supplies - as part of the treaty ending the war, there were allocated air rights for allied planes to fly through to get to Berlin, but there were no roads. So everything had to go by plane. At one point, one individual pilot started dropping candy for the children of Berlin. This individual act developed into a PR program supported by the US military to maintain support of the airlift.
Overall, the facts included in this book were fascinating. At times, some of the details became mundane - and the author spent a lot of time on sidetracks for the personal backgrounds of many of the players which seemed unnecessary - but it gives a great, non-academic overview of that time period and some insight (at least into the author's opinion) of the reasons why some of what happened actually happened. Long, but still a recommended read
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LibraryThing member Sandert1
I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked up this book, and I'm absolutely fascinated by the story! I haven't completely finished it yet, but when I started reading I had assumed that it would be another story about a mission during WWII. I had NO IDEA what went on in Berlin after the war
While getting into the book I looked for nonfiction features and found an extensive bibliography, photographs, and author's note. However, I would've like to see maps outlining the areas of occupation in Germany because I couldn't exactly recall how the country was divided up.
The book really became compelling about 70 pages in. At first it was really challenging to get through the author's set up of all the biographies of important men involved in the situation and going through the bureaucratic decisions, etc. to get to the point of post-war Berlin.
I think the book only suffers from a trend common in nonfiction writers such as Timothy Egan and Eric Larsson where Cherney uses really long and winding sentence structures in order to cram in as much biographical detail and back story as possible. I find this frustrating some of the time and suspect it would cause adolescent readers to become frustrated as well.
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ended, or the atrocities that occurred. It is absolutely stunning to me that NO ONE talks about the Soviet control of Berlin and what might have happened differently if only the U.S. had gotten there first. While getting into the book I looked for nonfiction features and found an extensive bibliography, photographs, and author's note. However, I would've like to see maps outlining the areas of occupation in Germany because I couldn't exactly recall how the country was divided up.
The book really became compelling about 70 pages in. At first it was really challenging to get through the author's set up of all the biographies of important men involved in the situation and going through the bureaucratic decisions, etc. to get to the point of post-war Berlin.
I think the book only suffers from a trend common in nonfiction writers such as Timothy Egan and Eric Larsson where Cherney uses really long and winding sentence structures in order to cram in as much biographical detail and back story as possible. I find this frustrating some of the time and suspect it would cause adolescent readers to become frustrated as well.
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LibraryThing member BooksOn23rd
Great, easily readable account of the Berlin Airlift. My only complaint is that the book got schmaltzy at the end.
LibraryThing member jztemple
The title doesn't do the book justice, it's a very good and comprehensive narrative history which starts at the end of WW2 and covers the partition of Berlin and Germany, as well as the politics at home leading up to the 1948 presidential election and the conflicts, both political and physical,
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that lead to the blockage of Berlin and the subsequent airlift. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
Just so good! I have never read a lot of history because it often comes across as boring and lifeless. Hal Halvorsen, as well as Clay and Tunner, put a human face on the Berlin Airlift for me. I learned so much about that period that I didn't know, and it was incredibly entertaining at the same
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time. Some larger than life personalities in this book for sure! And the more I read about Harry Truman, the more I like him. His steady hand through this period likely prevented WWIII. Show Less
LibraryThing member murderbydeath
Talk about your non-fiction books that read like a novel. I could not put this book down and I stayed up too late a couple of nights because I just lost track of time.
I'm a child of the 70's but my parents were born in the 20's and my father was a Navy fighter pilot in WWII, but his orders were
Cherny does a great job of it. The narrative he pieces together is interesting and moving. I won't strictly call it academic: he has a very comprehensive Notes section at the back with citations and sources (no footnotes though) but I can't say the book is academically objective. The author's voice and his admiration for all of these men is evident. The Republican party takes a beating, too. I'm fine with all of this - I also admire what the allies accomplished and I'm way too far removed from any of these events to have any emotional bias; someone older, who lived closer to these events and the political parties of the times might not feel like being so objective, however.
Politics aside, I'd have to be inhuman not to be profoundly moved by the events of '48-'49 and the devastation of post-war Berlin. Both the horrific and the sublime. And I loved how, of all the heroes in this tale, not a single one of them was ever considered more than adequate by the people above them before or during the Berlin crisis. Only in hindsight was it really appreciated that these handful of men changed the world.
I didn't 5-star the book because it's long. There are bios at the beginning of all the major (American) players that I didn't appreciate as much as I probably should have and it was fully 300 pages before anything was said about candy. Still, those first 300 pages were interesting and they kept me going until the candy started dropping and the events of that year completely sucked me in. I think I enjoyed this book all the more because I was coming into it fresh - I didn't know exactly what happened next, and it added an element of suspense that those who are more educated about that time and place might not experience.
If you find yourself like me - woefully let down by your schooling in history - and want to learn more about the aftermath of WWII, I recommend this book. It's one I'd like to find in hardcover for my library shelves.
[PopSugar 2015 Challenge: A book with more than 500 pages.]
I'm a child of the 70's but my parents were born in the 20's and my father was a Navy fighter pilot in WWII, but his orders were
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for the Pacific. All this to say I grew up with no direct stories of the European half of the war, had only vague knowledge of the Berlin blockade, and had never heard of Halvorsen and his Candy Bombs. Seeing a BL friend's review of this book, I was immediately sold and eager to learn more about it all.Cherny does a great job of it. The narrative he pieces together is interesting and moving. I won't strictly call it academic: he has a very comprehensive Notes section at the back with citations and sources (no footnotes though) but I can't say the book is academically objective. The author's voice and his admiration for all of these men is evident. The Republican party takes a beating, too. I'm fine with all of this - I also admire what the allies accomplished and I'm way too far removed from any of these events to have any emotional bias; someone older, who lived closer to these events and the political parties of the times might not feel like being so objective, however.
Politics aside, I'd have to be inhuman not to be profoundly moved by the events of '48-'49 and the devastation of post-war Berlin. Both the horrific and the sublime. And I loved how, of all the heroes in this tale, not a single one of them was ever considered more than adequate by the people above them before or during the Berlin crisis. Only in hindsight was it really appreciated that these handful of men changed the world.
I didn't 5-star the book because it's long. There are bios at the beginning of all the major (American) players that I didn't appreciate as much as I probably should have and it was fully 300 pages before anything was said about candy. Still, those first 300 pages were interesting and they kept me going until the candy started dropping and the events of that year completely sucked me in. I think I enjoyed this book all the more because I was coming into it fresh - I didn't know exactly what happened next, and it added an element of suspense that those who are more educated about that time and place might not experience.
If you find yourself like me - woefully let down by your schooling in history - and want to learn more about the aftermath of WWII, I recommend this book. It's one I'd like to find in hardcover for my library shelves.
[PopSugar 2015 Challenge: A book with more than 500 pages.]
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
640 p.; 6.4 inches
ISBN
0399154965 / 9780399154966