classics

Helping those in need

Visit Site

MP3 Audio Sample

rating
 
 
goodreads logo

Short Synopsis
From bestselling presidential biographer Richard Reeves, a stirring tale of the heroic and resolute young men who defied the Soviet blockade intended to drive the Western powers out of Berlin and risked their lives to keep a city alive.

Full 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.

"With considerable insight, Richard Reeves brings this dramatic first great battle of the Cold War to life.... This is a wonderful book, richly told." ---Jay Winik, author of the New York Times bestseller The Great Upheaval

"This is a gripping history." ---Christian Science Monitor

"The real value of Reeves's book lies in the remarkable human sagas he collected through hundreds of interviews with [those] who sustained the airlift for almost a year." ---Boston Globe

"Reeves' account is a welcome reminder of the importance of a military willing to take risks to preserve freedom." ---San Francisco Chronicle

"Reeves writes clearly and compellingly.... [He] emphasizes the sagas of the 'common people' who supported and opposed the airlift." ---Philadelphia Inquirer

"Reeves is a master storyteller and his account is one [listeners] will appreciate." ---Library Journal

"A dazzling story of bravado, management genius and the perilous circumstances of our first great showdown with Stalin's Russia." ---Tom Brokaw

"An important work of historical recovery." ---Los Angeles Times

"One of our greatest historians and storytellers takes on one of the most glorious tales of our times.... It has the excitement of a novel and the urgency of reality." ---Walter Isaacson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Einstein

"Reeves gives us a mesmerizing portrait of America at its best when challenged by Russia's tyranny." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Publishers Weekly Review

Daring Young Men

The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift---June 1948-May 1949

Author Richard Reeves

Narrated by Johnny Heller

Publication date Jan 25, 2010

Running time 9 hrs

Available Formats

Suggestions?
Let us know!