The Berlin Airlift

The Relief Operation that Defined the Cold War

Barry Turner

$33.99 $33.95

Paperback

In stock
Ready to ship

QTY:

English

Icon Books
01 July 2018

History; The Cold War; Battles & campaigns

Berlin, 1948 - a divided city in a divided country in a divided Europe. The ruined German capital lay 120 miles inside Soviet-controlled eastern Germany. Stalin wanted the Allies out; the Allies were determined to stay, but had only three narrow air corridors linking the city to the West. Stalin was confident he could crush Berlin's resolve by cutting off food and fuel.

In the USA, despite some voices still urging 'America first', it was believed that a rebuilt Germany was the best insurance against the spread of communism across Europe.

And so over eleven months from June 1948 to May 1949, British and American aircraft carried out the most ambitious airborne relief operation ever mounted, flying over 2 million tons of supplies on almost 300,000 flights to save a beleaguered Berlin.

With new material from American, British and German archives and original interviews with veterans, Turner paints a fresh, vivid picture the airlift, whose repercussions - the role of the USA as global leader, German ascendancy, Russian threat - we are still living with today.

By: Barry Turner
Imprint: Icon Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 200mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 225g
ISBN: 9781785783531
ISBN 10: 178578353X
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 01 July 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Barry Turner is a celebrated historian, the author most recently of Karl Doenitz and the Last Days of the Third Reich (Icon, 2015), described as 'page-turning' by the Daily Mail, and of Suez 1956 (Hodder, 2006) and, with Tony Rennell, of When Daddy Came Home (Arrow, 2014). He lives in London and south-west France.

Reviews for The Berlin Airlift: The Relief Operation that Defined the Cold War

In this fine piece of popular history, Barry Turner provides an engaging and vivid account of this first major episode of the Cold War. * BBC History * Crisply written, suitably dramatic and ultimately heartening book. * Daily Mail * This new history of ""Operation Vittles"" based on hitherto unexplored archives and interviews with veterans paints a fresh, vivid picture of the Berlin airlift, whose repercussions - the role of the USA as a global leader, German ascendancy, Russian threat - are still being felt today. * The Bookseller * Barry Turner offers a compelling view of the airlift, explains the context and explores its legacy. * CHOICE *