Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is a must have for all with an interest in air power. With contributions from the world's leading experts on air power history and strategy, the book is unique in the breadth and depth of its examination of the development of air power.
The book's structure is excellent. The chapters are concise (nominally 20 pages) and provide insight into air power's role in the conflict being considered. What is very useful is the positioning, in most chapters anyway, of air power's role in a particular conflict with how it was used on other conflicts past and present. This provides a bit of cohesion to the book which is sometimes difficult in a collected work. This is particular important in this work as the authors generally examine different aspects of air power (the chapter on the Israel-Arab Wars focused on air superiority while that on the Falklands had a distinctly logistical feel about it). This is not a criticism of the book as it is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of every aspect of air power in every conflict.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of the book is that it wasn't written by or for air power zealots. The perspectives offered were balanced (in the main) and different viewpoints were raised. This was most notable in the final part of the book (Part V - Perspectives) in the two concluding chapters by Van Creveld and Hallion. Both provide an overview of the evolution of air power and its potential future, each arriving at well argued and supported (but different) conclusions.
In summary: as you read through the book you gain an understanding of how certain aspects of air power (technical, logistical, strategy or tactical) developed over a number of conflicts. At the end, you are presented with two essentially opposing views on what this history means for the future. Concluding the book in such a way makes you challenge your own interpretation of where we have been and where we are going. That is what makes this book a must read for all with an interest or viewpoint on the past, present or future of air power.
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***Selected for the 2010 Chief of the United States Air Force's Reading List***This one-volume anthology provides a comprehensive analysis of the role that air power has played in military conflicts over the past century. Comprising sixteen essays penned by a global cadre of leading military experts, A History of Air Warfare chronologically examines the utility of air power from the First World War to the second Lebanon war, campaign by campaign. Each essay lays out the objectives, events, and key players of the conflict in question, reviews the role of air power in the strategic and operational contexts, and explores the interplay between the political framework and military operations proper. The concluding section offers wider perspectives by focusing on air and space power in both unconventional and conventional warfare from 1913 to the present. More than a simple homage to air power, A History of Air Warfare exposes air power's strengths and weaknesses and, where relevant, illuminates the challenges of joint operations and coalition warfare. Because of its critical approach, even treatment, and historical background, the book will appeal to modern warfare scholars, air power specialists, and general readers interested in military history alike.
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