At the close of World War II, the Soviet Union controlled all of eastern Germany with the exception of the American, British, and French sectors of Berlin. In June 1948, Soviet authorities halted the West's land access to the city, apparently dooming the inhabitants of its Western sectors to starvation. Would half of Berlin remain free and democratic, or would it succumb to Stalin's stranglehold? American and British planes immediately began a massive airlift that would last for fifteen months. Flying 276,926 dangerous missions, often in bad weather, and bringing in 2.3 million tons of food...