The Berlin Airlift ─ The Relief Operation that Defined the Cold War

Over eleven months from June 1948 to May 1949, British and American aircrafts 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 – opening a new, if unsure, chapter in the UK/US ‘special relationship’. This was before it was all about ‘America first’ – post-World War II, the USA felt it had the responsibility to lead by example. 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.

Barry Turner is an acclaimed historian and Editor of The Statesman’s Yearbook (Palgrave) which has recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. His most recent books are Karl Doenitz and the Last Days of the Third Reich (Icon, 2015) and When Daddy Came Home (Arrow, 2014), described as ‘fascinating’ by the Daily Mail.