Renowned journalist and writer Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of a group of US aviators obsessed with precision bombing, a military doctrine that could potentially reduce enemy and civilian casualties. For the 30s of the 20th century, this idea was revolutionary: instead of destroying all life on a vast territory with carpet bombing, the "bomber mafia" proposed using new-class aircraft that could point-by-point disable key military and civilian facilities. Gladwell masterfully intertwines the fates of several heroes - the inventor of the bombsight, American and British generals and engineers. All of them worked for the good of their people, but differently saw the best way to wage war, and on the pages of this book, the story of their confrontation becomes a tense documentary thriller.