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The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour

by: Andrei Cherny

: The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 943.1550874
EAN: 9780399154966
ISBN: 0399154965
Label: Putnam Adult
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 640
Publication Date: April 17, 2008
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Sales Rank: 30477
Studio: Putnam Adult



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Product 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.

On the sixtieth anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, Andrei Cherny tells a remarkable story with profound implications for the world today. In the tradition of the best narrative storytellers, he brings together newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews to tell the story of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who not only saved millions of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, and set in motion the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and to America’s victory in the Cold War.

On June 24, 1948, intent on furthering its domination of Europe, the Soviet Union cut off all access to West Berlin, prepared to starve the city into submission unless the Americans abandoned it. Soviet forces hugely outnumbered the Allies’, and most of America’s top officials considered the situation hopeless. But not all of them.

Harry Truman, an accidental president, derided by his own party; Lucius Clay, a frustrated general, denied a combat command and relegated to the home front; Bill Tunner, a logistics expert downsized to a desk job in a corner of the Pentagon; James Forrestal, a secretary of defense beginning to mentally unravel; Hal Halvorsen, a lovesick pilot who had served far from the conflict, flying transport missions in the backwater of a global war—together these unlikely men improvised and stumbled their way into a uniquely American combination of military and moral force unprecedented in its time.

This is the forgotten foundation tale of America in the modern world, the story of when Americans learned, for the first time, how to act at the summit of world power—a masterful and exciting work of historical narrative, and one with strong resonance for our time.



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Finally, a satisfying history
I've always had an interest in the Berlin Airlift, but never could find a really satisfying history. ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Saving Berlin
I wish I could share the enthusiasm of some of the other reviewers, because I will acknowledge the Candy ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Best book on the airlift
The Berlin Airlift is one of my favorite moments in history. I can remember my father telling me the story ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A time when America stood tall
Cherny has thoroughly and expertly captured a time in our history when America stood tall. His book is a well ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - The Candy Bombers
It was so good that I couldn't put it down. I was glad that I knew the ending!

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