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The First World War had seen the mechanization of warfare. Battle fronts had become immobilized in the grip of machine-guns and heavy artillery, leading to slaughter on an unprecedented scale. The end of the war saw exhausted governments extricating themselves from the carnage, but some leaders were concerned that, sooner or later, another major war would follow. As France’s Marshal Foch put it, the Treaty of Versailles was only a ‘twenty-year truce’. The overriding concern was to find ways in future of avoiding the kind of static battle fronts that had consumed so many in such futile efforts. Military aviation was seen as the one great innovation that had the potential to do this by revolutionizing warfare. It would not only augment the effectiveness of ground forces in a tactical role, but it also had the means of reaching out strategically beyond the battlefronts to strike at the enemy’s trade, supplies, communications and industrial production. All through the war, military aviation had been firmly under the control of army commanders but there was soon a fierce debate over the way it should develop. The development of an ‘air doctrine’ within each of the major European powers was fraught with difficulty as the nascent air arms struggled, with varying degrees of success, to free themselves from army control to find a new, independent identity. This book examines the way in which these air arms competed for prominence within the military structures of six major European nations – Germany, Britain, France, Soviet Union, Poland and Italy – with different resources, ambitions and philosophies, in the years from the beginning of aviation right up to the start of the Second World War.
Airpower, more than any other factor, has shaped war in the twentieth century. In this fascinating narrative history, Martin van Creveld vividly portrays the rise of the plane as a tool of war and the evolution of both technology and strategy. He documents seminal battles and turning points, and relates stories of individual daring and collective mastery of the skies. However, the end of airpower's glorious age is drawing near. The conventional wisdom to the contrary, modern precision guided munitions have not made fighter bombers more effective against many kinds of targets than their predecessors in World War II. U.S. ground troops calling for air support in Iraq in 2003 did not receive it any faster than Allied forces did in France in 1944. And from its origins on, airpower has never been very effective against terrorists, guerrillas, and insurgents. As the warfare waged by these kinds of people grow in importance, and as ballistic missiles, satellites, cruise missiles and drones increasingly take the place of quarter-billion-dollar manned combat aircraft and their multi-million-dollar pilots, airpower is losing utility almost day by day.
Interprets the Ecuadorian transition to civilian rule following a prolonged period of military dictatorship (1972-79), and assesses the difficulties posed by efforts to consolidate democracy during the decade that followed. It focuses on civilian opposition to the policies of the regime.
The Air War, 1939-1945 was first written in the late 1970s when there was very little academic interest in the history of air power. What there was focused largely on combat. The book was intended to provide a global history of the air war by looking at combat, but also the broader context of technology, production, intelligence and leadership. The book sought to address the question of why the Allies in the end won decisively the war in the air, and concluded that Axis air forces were too tied to a narrow conception of air power attached to surface forces, rather than air power exercised in a broader framework of air defense, logistics, strategic bombing and technological development. The book has been assigned reading in military and air force academies for the past forty years. “The Air War, 1939-1945... immediately and permanently altered the way that historians have examined the nature of aerial warfare during World War II. Overy’s ingenious examination of the global nature of planning, building, deploying, and utilizing air forces remains the finest overall study of the topic more than a quarter-century after its first publication... conclusions drawn in this work... are even today an integral part of U.S. Air Force doctrine.” — Dik A. Daso, US Air Force Chief of Staff’s Reading List “This is an outstanding book on a subject in which past controversy has often generated more heat than light... The strength of the book is... Overy’s masterly discussion of the economic problems of sustaining air forces in war and of hitting the right balance between quantity production of current models and diversion of resources to research and technical innovation... Truly this is a book that deserves attention from all those who wish to study, and learn from, the history of warfare.” — G. C. Peden, Naval War College Review “[T]ightly written... The Air War, 1939-1945 is essential reading for all military historians.” — James J. Hudson, Military Affairs “[O]ne of the best books on aviation in World War II.” — Kenneth P. Werrell, Air Power History “An important and successful book.” — The Economist “Highly effective. The result, as so often with sound scholarship, is the ruthless dispelling of myths.” — A. J. P. Taylor, author of The Origins of the Second World War “The Air War is... an excellent and stimulating book which both needs and deserves slow and careful reading. It is an ambitious book, too, and Dr. Overy should be congratulated for breaking down national histories in writing his history of air power during the Second World War.” — Malcolm Smith, The International History Review “[A] recognized classic.” — Richard B. Frank, The Journal of American History “Originally published in 1980 and still the best one-volume aerial history of World War II, Richard Overy’s classic work remains profound and highly original... [it] deepens our understanding not only of World War II but of military history in general.” — The SHAFR Guide Online “[A]n outstanding book... The Air War is a serious and profound treatise that analyses those various military and civilian themes which, in combination, determined the nature of the struggle in the air during the Second World War... The Air War is something of a novelty in aeronautical literature. It is to be hoped that it will serve as a model for other books to come in this important field.” — Alfred Gollin, The English Historical Review “Overy provides operational accounts of the air-forces’ role in Europe... and in the Pacific. Then, and most exceptionally, he deals separately with all facets of the air war: planning, organization, manpower, equipment, and doctrine... honest... broadly informed, and... well-stocked with useful data.“ — Kirkus “R. J. Overy examines the whole war period from the point of view of each of the warring powers and gives us not only a study of military campaigns but also a highly successful examination of aerial doctrine, economic and scientific mobilization, and the political, diplomatic, and military aspects of the management of hostilities. This fine study analyzes the achievements and the failures of the aerial component of the war... This good analysis of many studies done on this subject... makes possible a new, balanced synthesis from an objective point of view.” — Sam H. Frank, The American Historical Review
This is a major reassessment of the causes of Allied victory in the Second World War in the Mediterranean region. Drawing on a unique range of multinational source material, Richard Hammond demonstrates how the Allies' ability to gain control of the key routes across the sea and sink large quantities of enemy shipping denied the Axis forces in North Africa crucial supplies and proved vital to securing ultimate victory there. Furthermore, the sheer scale of attrition to Axis shipping outstripped their industrial capacity to compensate, leading to the collapse of the Axis position across key territories maintained by seaborne supply, such as Sardinia, Corsica and the Aegean islands. As such, Hammond demonstrates how the anti-shipping campaign in the Mediterranean was the fulcrum about which strategy in the theatre pivoted, and the vital enabling factor ultimately leading to Allied victory in the region.
It was certainly not through the foresight of his senior officers that Charles Carrington, a veteran of the First World War, was enabled to put his experience in that earlier conflict to good use in the Second, as readers of this remarkable book will soon learn. However, by great good fortune, he found himself in a position where his experience of things past could be adapted to the needs of a virtually untried aspect of warfare- that of Army/Air Force Co-operation. As an Army Officer in a world of high-ranking Airmen, it was his task to walk the tightrope between the two Services in an effort to persuade both parties that neither could win the war without the other and that co-operation was preferable to self-interest. The words 'prima donna' crop up frequently in the story and one is not surprised when the author remarks 'while we were organising signal exercises..and such necessary menial chores, at which the Services worked together without a hitch, our problem was to get the Great Chiefs to stop quaralling”. Although he describes his experiences with cheerful modisty, it is clear that this unsung 'armchair soldier' played a vital role in the back room battle that had to be resolved before the war proper could be waged with efficiency Apart from his being privy to much information that remained 'Top Secret' for many years after the war. Readers will soon see that his views on some of the Top Brass might have had unpleasant repercussions had they been aired too soon! But those who have read his earlier works, as well as those who come afresh to the work of this fluent and clear-sighted writer will surly agree that the wait has been worthwhile,
Mountbatten, Cold War and Empire 1945-79 focuses upon Admiral Lord Mountbatten as a commanding – if controversial – figure in the history of Britain and its empire, from Churchill's wartime coalition through to the Labour governments of the 1960s, and forms a sequel to Mountbatten: Apprentice War Lord. Written in three parts, focusing on the premierships of Churchill and Attlee; Eden, Macmillan, Douglas-Home; and Wilson, this book examines the debates over Mountbatten's record in Southern Asia in 1943-6 and 1947-8. Additional chapters focus on Mountbatten's position at the heart of the British state and his pivotal role at key moments in the immediate post-war era, most notably the partition of India, the Suez Crisis and the renewal of an ostensibly independent nuclear deterrent. This book also considers Mountbatten's relationship with Anthony Eden, both during and following the Suez Crisis, as well as detailing Mountbatten's achievements as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff under Harold Macmillan and his immediate successors. Smith acknowledges Mountbatten's centrality to the history of Britain and its empire in the immediate post-war era and, in doing so, presents a fascinating picture of one of the most prominent figures of the 20th-century. Smith's scrupulous examination of primary sources, including those available in the Broadlands Archives, results in a thorough examination of a controversial figure: by eschewing often baseless speculation about Mountbatten's personal life Smith creates the first comprehensive overview of Admiral Lord Mountbatten's career from 1943 to the mid-sixties.