Review Of Roger G. Miller's To Saving A City: The Berlin Airlift

Roger G. Miller’s To save a city: the Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949, not only focuses on the Berlin the Airlift, but also on the Cold War events leading up to the Airlift. Events such as the Marshal plan, German unification, currency reform, and the Soviet Siege of Berlin, are briefly noted to give the reader an intelligible understanding of the precursor to the Berlin Airlift. With the Airlift being the center of attention, Miller dives into many aspects surrounding the American and British attempt to supply West Berlin by airdrop. While using a chronological timeline, Miller explains concepts such as diplomacy, provisionals, specific operations, weather forecasting, maintenance and supply, training, and many other detailed components of the Berlin
Airlift. With over three hundred and seventy cited sources ranging from books to personal letters, Miller uses a very analytical approach to describe the events of the Berlin Airlift. Miller Argues that the Berlin Blockade was in part due to the joint effort of communists, Pieck and Stalin, who wanted to rid Europe of Western influence. Then, the U.S responded with an almost impossible feat of supplying millions of West Berliners via airdrop, in return, saving millions of people from starvation and communist operation. Robert A. Slayton’s Master of the Air: William Tunner and the Success of Military Airlift, uses a biographical tone to describe the relationship of William Tunner and the Berlin Airlift. This book begins with the legacy of previously successful air missions commanded by Tunner, such as the Hump, which was very similar to that of the Berlin Airlift. Slayton argues that Tunner’s past success was the reason he was given the arduous task of supplying the millions of people of West Berlin by airlift, a feat that has never been done before. Slayton claims many viewed this tasked as impossible; however, Tunner somehow managed to successfully supply an entire city with food, water, and even coal for the winter months. In return, the U.S defeated the Soviets in what would be a major political and economical battle of the Cold War, while simultaneously changing the structure of the U.S military strategies for wars to come. Slayton uses sources ranging from books, and interviews to memos, and newspapers, while also giving the reader documented pictures from the events of the Berlin Airlift.