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

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 In the tradition of the best narrative storytellers, he brings together newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews to tell the story of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who not only saved millions of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.

As far back as I can remember, I was under the impression that the US and the Allies had learned their lesson after WWI, that leaving your erstwhile enemy a crippled country wasn’t a good idea. That hard feelings would fester and you’d be in the same predicament again. Apparently not, for, once again, the main feeling that the Allies had was animosity, and it would take years for Americans to even want to help. And while they dithers, Berliners starved. It would take the humanity of one man, Hal Halvorsen, to create feelings of harmony between the Allies and Germany.

Though there is much about his efforts to give the children of Berlin a little hope, the book isn’t just about the Candy Bombers. It starts years before, as it follows the lives and careers of the men who would lead the way. Men who were unwilling to to hand all of Berlin over to the Soviets, who were already in the middle of an illegitimate land grab (sound familiar?)

Men like Lucius Clay, who is given the thankless job of keeping Berlin together, James Forrestal, who never trusted the Russians. Hal Halversen, a pilot who finally has the chance to be in the thick if things. And Bill Tunner, whose unique expertise as a logistics expert will make the Airlift possible.

And almost seventy-five years on, we seem to be heading in the same direction. This is an excellent book for those who wish to understand how so much can hang on the decisions we make.





Mount TBR 2022 Book Links


Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

( TBR Book Links 1-65 )

66. The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino, George Zebrowski
67. The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour by Andrei Cherny