Without having read Gladwell's book, let me point ya'll to a
very interesting Quora post by Trent Telenko. The post itself has a bunch of links to other stuff Telenko has written challenging the prevailing historical narratives concerning the American bombing campaign in Europe.
The Tl;Dr version:
- The Bomber Mafia failed to heed the lessons on the (un)feasibility of unescorted daylight bombing, starting with Chennault's rough handling of bomber attacks during exercises in the 1930s (which got Chennault purged), then the Battle of Britain, and the British attempts at daylight bombing
- The Bomber Mafia, in the person of Gen. Arnold, further compounded this mistake by barring the use of drop tanks on escort fighters, starting in 1939. This directive remained in force in Europe long after it was abandoned in the Pacific.
- Making things even worse was Gen. Eaker's insistence on close escort tactics for the escort fighters, which ceded the initiative to defending German fighters
- the "P-51 Narrative" came about largely to protect the reputations of the Bomber Mafia generals who led the push for an independent USAF.