The Washington Times carried a very nice review of The Candy Bombers that was written by Joseph Goulden, a noted historian of the 1940s.
He writes:
The airlift story is told in rich detail in "The Candy Bombers" by Andrei Cherny. Even those familiar with the lift and the era will find Mr. Cherny's account a fascinating read.
Dear Mr. Cherny:
Congratulations for this book. I, as a young boy, grew up in wartime England yet had no appreciation of the significance of the Airlift. Its place in history has been overlooked (why was this?) Your excellent telling of the story will go a long way to correcting this almost criminal oversight.
Best wishes, John M.
Dear Mr. Cherny,
I have just finished reading your book. Not only was I moved but, enlightened as well. I applaud your efforts in writing what, I believe, is a very readable history book--I couldn't put it down. To give you some perspective, I was born in 1940. I served four years in the United States military as a young enlisted man. I am reasonably well read, particularly with regard to WWII--since then I have lived current history, so to speak. Again, I will tell anyone who will listen that "The Candy Bombers" is certainly worth reading.
Prior to your efforts, I did know who Gail Halvorson was but probably not in the context as you described it--Masterful!
Thank you!
Pat G.
THANK YOU!
A blog called The Smoking Mule gave The Candy Bombers its highest rating ever. Here is the review:
Candy lovers everywhere will love this story ... no, let the Mule revise that slightly, add history lovers, and people who enjoy inspirational stories. A few times a year, the Mule hits the reading jackpot, finding an extraordinary narrative that exhausts the supply of superlatives - this is it:" The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour" by Andrei Cherny. In 1948, with Berlin still in rubble and its population facing starvation, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade of all rail and vehicle traffic into the Allied controlled Western sector of the city. (You may need to punch up a 1948 map on Google to see how the occupation zones were configured.) This provocation was designed to force an already beleaguered Truman administration into making more concessions in the Cold War geopolitical struggle. However, the gambit failed as the U.S. launched its famous, dazzling " Airlift" relief effort, which served to soften recent U.S.-German war animosities and deliver West Germany and West Berlin into the democratic orbit. That's the big sketch, however it is the behind-the-scenes heroics that makes this such a moving drama. When the Airlift was originally conceived, it was intended as a modest endeavor to afford the Allies negotiating room and avert military confrontation with the increasingly assertive Soviets. While the high profile players such as Truman, George Marshall, etc. mapped out policy schemes and options, an obscure cast of dramatis personae would steal the stage. If not for the happenstance whim of an American pilot, one "Hal" Halvorsen, the entire operation might have ground to a halt, falling victim to the protests of detractors, including the self-aggrandizing General Curtis LeMay, who disapproved of the effort, then hypocritically accepted credit when it enjoyed mounting success. But it was Halvorsen, who became the unintended hero of the saga as he skirted regulations and began dropping "candy" to the children of West Berlin. Initially intended as a humanitarian gesture, it evolved into the symbol and centerpiece of Allied and German resistance to the Soviet encroachments. In a stunning outpouring of American decency and generosity, the American people and corporations rallied to the cause, supplying so much candy that the "Candy Bombing" became part of the full relief flight routine. The Soviets were finally forced to relent, Truman converted the Airlift success into an upset win and another term in the White House, and perhaps at no other time in post-World War II history has the American star shone brighter. In 1998, on the fiftieth anniversay, Halvorsen returned to Germany as the country honored him with national celebrations. Cherny's writing is a celebration of history writing at its absolute finest. His packaging of the sources, intricate diplomacy, and American political quarreling is a clinic in itself. He adroitly mixes the technical aspects of the Airlift itself while describing the raw emotional terror of the desperate, reeling German population, as they cling to any morsel of hope to endure. The Mule rarely waxes so effusive, but this one qualifies: astonishing, absolutely spectacular from page one - FOUR HOOVES UP WITH A STOMP AND OFF THE CHARTS!
Dear Mr. Cherny:
I am reading "The Candy Bombers" and, for the most part, enjoying the
experience. I found your description of living conditions in Berlin
right after the war particularly informative and moving. My late
father was a US Army officer and we were stationed in Germany from
1949 until 1953...I have some vivid memories of the country, and
remember well the bombed-out buildings still common then. We lived
in four major cities during our four years there, and my father
always admired many things about the German culture after our time
there.
I am learning a great deal about the government of the sectors, and
although I knew of GEN Lucius Clay, I didn't know much about him.
(Talk about a thankless job done well, with insufficient recognition.)
But please, if your book is reprinted, take pains to correct one
statement I just read. On page 214, you stated that the "Hells
Angels bicycle gang" was organized in California in 1948. All this
time I thought that the Hells Angels were a group of motorcycle
enthusiasts, self-proclaimed misfits and social outcasts for the
most part. I'm pretty sure of that. In the beginning, I think they
favored Harley-Davidsons for the very reason that they could be
bought cheap as WWII government surplus, although other brands were
also accepted (not like today, when no others are). I think the
Angels would be stunned to hear themselves referred to as a "bicycle
gang."
Best of luck with "The Candy Bombers." It's a good story which
deserves to be told.
Sincerely,
Richard, Georgetown, TX
Richard,
Thanks for the note. I'll admit that I'm nothing close to an expert on the Hell's Angels but from what I've been able to tell there is a quite a bit of literature referring to them as a "gang" including this article in the Missoulian http://www.missoulian.com/specials/hellsangels/ha01.html and Hunter S. Thompson's landmark book, "Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell's_Angels:_The_Strange_and_Terrible_Saga_of_the_Outlaw_Motorcycle_Gangs. I think "gang" may have a worse connotation in your mind than what I necessarily meant in that sentence.
-- Andrei
Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post wrote a column all about The Candy Bombers and the Berlin Airlift. She writes:
The lessons of the Berlin Airlift are anything but simple, which is what makes it such a useful historical moment. Cherny's book is something of a Rorschach test on Iraq: The message readers receive may depend on the mindset with which they arrived.
Definitely worth reading!
Michael Barone, a senior writer at U.S. News and World Report, is best known as a pundit and as the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics -- the essential reference book of American politics. But he is also a historian and his 1990 book Our Country is up there with William Manchester's The Glory and the Dream as one of the best surveys of mid-20th century America.
This week he writes about the lessons he thinks we should learn from The Candy Bombers. Along the way, he writes that:
The Berlin Airlift’s “tale of American expertise, ingenuity, and generosity is told vividly by Andrei Cherny in his wonderfully readable book The Candy Bombers.”
It's been interesting to see people from all sides of the political spectrum try to draw inspiration from this book. I think that's the role of history: it doesn't provide clear answers but can hopefully shed some light on the present and future.
UPDATE: Looks like U.S. News and World Report is having some site issues. Barone's column can also be found here.
I've been slow in posting the video of CSPAN's Book TV's coverage of a reading I did at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ. I was pretty jetlagged that night but it is a pretty good representation of what I've been saying on the book tour for those of you who haven't been able to make it one of the stops. This link should work.