The Candy Bombers, Andrei Cherny
The Candy Bombers, Andrei Cherny
List: $35.99 | Sale: $25.20
Club: $17.99

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

Author: Andrei Cherny

Narrator: Jonathan Davis

Unabridged: 24 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 09/11/2009


Synopsis

In the tradition of the great narrative storytellers, Andrei Cherny recounts the exhilarating saga of the unlikely men who made the Berlin Airlift one of the great military and humanitarian successes of American history.

The Candy Bombers is a remarkable story with profound implications for our own time. Cherny tells the tale of the ill-assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who not only saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat, but also won the hearts of America’s defeated enemies, inspired people around the world to believe in America’s fundamental goodness, avoided World War III, and won the greatest battle of the Cold War without firing a shot.

With newly unclassified documents, unpublished letters and diaries, and fresh primary interviews, The Candy Bombers takes readers along as American pilots, with only a few small rickety planes, manage to feed and supply West Berlin completely by air for nearly a year; as Harry Truman exploits the very real threat of war to win an upset reelection campaign; as America’s first secretary of defense descends into madness in the midst of a dangerous military crisis; and as a lovesick American pilot shows that acts of basic human kindness can send powerful ripples through the course of history.

“What an exciting, inspiring, and wonderfully-written book this is. … Each page has lessons for today, and it is also a thrilling narrative to read.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs

Reviews

Goodreads review by Tony on August 15, 2010

Terrific! Too bad that the author gave the book such a "soft" title... actually the extended title really tells the story: "The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour." If the book had been written 50 years ago the initial title would be significant, but unfortunately too many......more

Goodreads review by Joyce on March 01, 2012

This is one of the best non-fiction history books I have ever read! Even though it takes many detours from the main story (and the story of the Candy Bombers makes up only a small fraction of the book,) it is interesting and well written. I laughed, I cried, I pondered. How can the actions of one m......more

Goodreads review by George on March 02, 2018

INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE, ENTERTAINING. “…the story of when Americans learned—for the first time—how to act at the summit of world power.” (p. 6) “For six years, an average of 20,000 soldiers and civilians had died every day in the war.” (p. 45). Fact filled, comprehensive, and packed with personal vig......more

Goodreads review by Greg on April 05, 2022

If you have friends or family members who are isolationist, xenophobic or members of the so-called tea party, get them this book and hope they read it. The preface desribes an elderly woman openly crying at a Berlin demonstration in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Cherny's story......more

Goodreads review by Natasha on June 01, 2015

I found this treasure of a book while searching for World War II stories. I read it four years ago and re-read it this year after seeing Hal Halvorsen featured in "Meet the Mormons." His cameo in that movie barely scratches the surface of how awesome his story is. At one point in "Meet the Mormons,"......more