Contents: Introduction. I: 1914-1945. 1. The First World War, 1914-1919/John H. Morrow. 2. The Air War in Europe, 1939-1945/Richard Overy. 3. The Air War in the Pacific, 1941-1945/Richard R. Muller. II: 1945-1990. 4. The Air War in Korea, 1950-1953/Alan Stephens. 5. Operations over North Vietnam, 1965-1973/Wayne Thompson. 6. Air Superiority in the Israel-Arab Wars, 1967-1982/Shmuel L. Gordon. 7. Air Power and the Falklands, 1982/Lawrence Freeman. III: 1990-2000. 8. Operation Desert Storm, 1991/John Andreas Oslen. 9. Operation Deliberate Force, 1995/Robert C. Owen. 10. Operation Allied Force, 1999/Tony Mason. IV: 2000-2006. 11. Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001/Benjamin S. Lambeth. 12. Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003/Williamson Murray. 13. The Second Lebanon War, 2006/Itai Brun. V: Perspectives. 14. Air Power in small Wars: 1913 to the Present/James S. Corum. 15. The Rise and Fall of Air Power/Martin van Creveld. 16. Air and Space Power: Climbing and Accelerating/Richard P. Hallion. Index.
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 a 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. (Jacket)
