The Berlin Airlift

Over eleven months from June 1948 to May 1949, British and American aircraft carried out the most ambitious airborne relief operation ever mounted, flying 2.3 million tons of supplies on 277,500 flights to save a beleaguered Berlin - and opening a new, if unsure, chapter in the UK/US 'special relationship'.Berlin was a divided city in a divided country in a divided Europe - 120 miles inside Russian-controlled East Germany. Stalin wanted the Allies out; the Allies were determined to stay. With agreement on just three narrow air corridors linking the city to the West, the Soviet dictator was confident of getting his way by cutting off food and fuel.Acclaimed historian Barry Turner's new history of the Airlift is based on research into American, British and German archives and numerous interviews with veterans. It focuses on a high point in Anglo-American relations which deteriorated sharply in the years ahead when Britain threw away the chance to lead in Europe.Turner reveals the incredible logistical and political hurdles that were overcome to make the airlift a success, deftly explains the context, and explores its legacy, especially in Germany's economic and political ascendancy over Britain in the post-war recovery.