The Bomber Mafia

Like most of Malcolm Gladwell's books, this one is well thought out and well presented. For me it spreads new light on the motivations behind the “Bomber Mafia”. They were a small coterie of Army Airforce officers who set U.S. strategic bombing doctrine for much of WW2.
Were the Bomber Mafia visionaries trying to avoid unnecessary deaths? Or, were they misguided officers who, unwilling to abandon their dreams and accept that they were wrong, caused the deaths of large numbers of U.S. bomber aircrew? A good case can be made either way.
In parallel, was Curtis LeMay a hard man who made the hard decisions necessary to end the war? Or, was he a mass murderer? I lean toward the former, but again, a case can be made either way.
I recommend the audio version because it includes excerpts from recordings of many people involved. (The interview with a survivor of the fire-bombing of Tokyo is especially heart-rending.)
Makes you think. Solid 4 stars.