Today is all about the US Army Air Force's approach to strategic bombing in the run up to, and during the Second World War. Unlike the RAF, which very much focused on indiscriminate area bombing, the Americans - led by a group of air minded thinkers based at Maxwell airfield in Alabama, sometimes nicknamed the 'Bomber Mafia' - developed ideas and approaches focused on precision bombing. Intended to target key economic nodes or choke points in enemy infrastructure, precision bombing has often been described as a more humane way of conducting a strategic air offensive. However, such ethical considerations were not what motivated the 'Bomber Mafia', who were simply focused on the most effective way to use air power in the pursuit of strategic goals. Moreover, given the operational difficulties of flying over Germany and Japan, the actual practice of strategic bombing differed greatly from the theories developed during the interwar period.

We have on the show today Professor Alan Allport (Syracuse University, New York), a renowned historian who discusses the bomber mafia in great depth and brilliantly places the US bomber offensives into the wider context of the Second World War.