Daring Young Men, Richard Reeves
Daring Young Men, Richard Reeves
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Daring Young Men
The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift---June 1948-May 1949

Author: Richard Reeves

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 8 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/25/2010


Synopsis

The Second World War had been over for three years when pilots, navigators, and air traffic controllers all over America were recalled to active duty to rescue Berlin. They were there within days and weeks, flying tired planes filled with food, coal, medicine, and mail. Many had bombed the place to rubble in 1944 and 1945. Now they and the British airmen were bringing it survival. Drawing on hundreds of interviews in the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, bestselling author Richard Reeves tells the stories of these civilian airmen, the successors to Stephen Ambrose's "Civilian Soldiers," ordinary boys called to extraordinary tasks.

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had ordered Berlin blockaded, betting that the Americans, the British, and the French would abandon the city. Many of President Truman's advisers wanted to retreat; others wanted to risk war with the USSR. Truman ordered the Berlin Airlift, neither retreat nor confrontation. It ended only when West Germany was established by the three powers and NATO was born. The Soviets did the backing down. Led by Generals Lucius Clay and Curtis LeMay, the first battle in the Cold War was won. The young men came home again, some of them trying to remember where they had left their cars.

About Richard Reeves

Richard Reeves is the bestselling author of three presidential biographies, President Kennedy, President Nixon, and President Reagan. A syndicated columnist and winner of the American Political Science Association's Carey McWilliams Award, he lives in New York.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Charles on 2015-03-16 22:00:32

THIS SHOWS HOW GOOD THE USA,GREAT BRITAIN,AND FRANCE WERE.EXPECIALLY THE USA.THE PEOPLE OF WEST BERLIN SAID THE USA IS THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I AM A PILOT SO TO KNOW WHAT THESE MEN DID WITH THE EQUIPMENT THEY HAD BACK THEN WAS OUTSTANDING. I DON'T KNOW EVEN WITH THE EQUIPMENT WE HAVE NOW IF WE COULD DO THAT GOOD.

Goodreads review by carl on November 18, 2018

It’s said “Logistics wins wars.” When the Soviet Union cut off all land access to Berlin in 1948, hoping to send the Western powers packing as they could not hope to feed and provide heating by air supply to 2 million Berliners, they picked a logistics battle with the two biggest and most experience......more

Goodreads review by Barry on March 19, 2022

A fascinating account of an amazing feat!! Interesting details and behind-the-scene accounts of the daily lives and experiences of people who were there! Great writing!......more

Goodreads review by Stefanie on May 12, 2023

Post- World War II, Germany was divided between the Allied powers. Berlin was inside the area that was controlled by the Soviet Union, and there were concerns that Berlin would be absorbed and turned communist. Britain and the United States were especially concerned about this happening in the after......more

Goodreads review by Grant on October 10, 2024

As the title implies, this history of the Airlift focuses on the pilots, crews, and ground staffs that made the Airlift possible, with enough political and economic context to keep the story together. Reeves excels with the information drawn from veteran interviews.......more

Goodreads review by Bridget on April 10, 2010

This was the perfect book to read to learn more about the Berlin Airlift. What an amazing story. I really appreciated getting to read about something really wonderful the US did for a people who were very recently their mortal enemy. See also the podcast on this page. My favorite passage: [A woman livi......more