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Bridge Across the Sky: The Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948-1949
Bridge Across the Sky The Berlin Blockade and Airlift 19481949 Author:Richard Collier Germany 1948. Three years after World War II ends, the city of Berlin lies in ruins, divided into four sections by the conquering Allies. But now the Russians want to drive their wartime colleagues from the former capital and take control of the politically strategic area for themselves. — Soviet tactics are simple: stop all overland ... more »movement of Allied trucks and trains. Since the city lies within the Soviet zone of occupation, the blockade will prevent food and medical supplies form reaching it. Freezing winter is also on he side of the Russians. Berlin can be starved and frozen into submission.
But the Allies answer with tactics so bold they capture the imagination of the free world. Pilots and planes are rushed to Europe. As they refuel they load up with food and coal; their destination, Berlin. Within weeks the Allies create a bridge across the sky that wins the battle for the hearts -- and bellies -- of 2.5 million Berliners.
To re-create the story of the greatest airlift in history, author Richard Collier conducted hundreds of interviews: with American, British, and French pilots whose epic feats will never be forgotten. Allied generals and their Soviet counterparts, plus the people of Berlin whose stores are told here for the first time. This vivid, authentic story of the Berlin airlift highlights the first confrontation of the Cold War.« less