Daring Young Men: The Heroism And Triumph Of The Berlin Airlift-June 1948-May 1949 (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I was recently in the UK and Berlin while trying to impart some Cold War history into my son who was studying the subject at school. As part of the trip, I went to RAF Cosford as well as the AlliiertenMuseum where the subject of the Berlin Airlift were featured. While I knew the headlines of the story, the details were unknown and these museums helped -- but still left unanswered questions.So I turned to Reeves book to see if the gaps would be filled in. And, in many ways they were. The book does well at individual stories of participants, mostly on the American and West Berlin side. One also gets a firm appreciation of the degree of mobilization done by both Britain and the US to commandeer and reroute almost every transport plane from all theaters into the airlift. Even the guy who wrote my college textbook on Linear Programming makes a cameo.Reeves writes clearly and because so much of the story is told through reminisces, it is interesting in a human way.Any criticisms? Well, the Soviet side is not well documented and according to Reeves, there was precious little documentation uncovered after the collapse of the USSR. Nor do we get much from the East Berliner's point of view. Secondly, while one of the proximate causes of the blockade was the introduction of a new currency by the Western powers, Reeves doesn't make it very clear (he's not an economist) why this was so threatening to the Soviets. Or, maybe I' didn't grasp the arguments.Thirdly, whereas there was considerable opposition to the airlift within Washington, the political power struggles didn't get much life -- it was more that Truman said, 'we're not pulling out' and that was that.Bottom line - if youare interested in more about the Berlin Airlift than the conmtemporaneous semi-propaganda newsreels put out by the Brits and Americans, this is a good book. This book is a inspiring account in a nearly forgotten episode of postwar German history. Stalin's almost unfathomable pettiness and cruelty was countered by Truman's unswerving commitment to extend grace in the form of flour and coal to the beleaguered, desperate people of West Berlin. After initial suspicions, the Berliners took courage, grew strong and embraced the chance to stand up against a tyrant. The book is full of fascinating sketches about people who lived in VERY interesting times, including the "elected but unseated Mayor of Berlin" Ernst Reuter, General Lucius DuBignon Clay, bombing legend General Curtis LeMay and of course the "Candy bomber" Gail Halvorsen. An unanticipated benefit of the airlift was that by pushing themselves to do the impossible, American soldiers, pilots, air traffic controllers, programmers and logistics specialists learned important lessons which changed air travel in the second half of the 20th century.
What do You think about Daring Young Men: The Heroism And Triumph Of The Berlin Airlift-June 1948-May 1949 (2010)?
A fascinating story about an event that really helped to determine how Post War Germany would look.
—elchicojenio
It was well-written, but I think the book was missing something.
—lutik23
