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Never before has there been a book published on the aircraft, units and exploits of the Israel Air Force in such depth. Interest in the IAF has always been high and seldom are its aircrew and aircraft out of the world's headlines. Previous books have failed to satisfy, either being sensationalist and low on factual content, or lacking in fundamental research. Bill Norton has trawled through thousands of documents, reports, and illustrations to produce a work that is staggering in its depth and knowledge. Those that think they know the IAF will find a wealth of new material and countless previously published 'facts' re-evaluated and righted. Detailed type-by-type coverage supported by a barrage of photographs of the IAF from the mixed bag of aircraft of its formative days, through the Suez Campaign, the Six Day War, Yom Kippur and on to be a sophisticated, well-equipped force, arguably the most experienced in the world. Included for the first time are all of the badges and heraldry of the units of the IAF, in full color.
 During the first 10 months of the war in the Pacific, Japan achieved air supremacy with its carrier and land-based forces. But after major setbacks at Midway and Guadalcanal, the empire's expansion stalled, in part due to flaws in aircraft design, strategy and command. This book offers a fresh analysis of the air war in the Pacific during the early phases of World War II. Details are included from two expeditions conducted by the author that reveal the location of an American pilot missing in the Philippines since 1942 and clear up a controversial account involving famed Japanese ace Saburo Sakai and U.S. Navy pilot James "Pug" Southerland.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Army Air Forces had only 1,100 combat-ready planes. No one could have imagined then that within the next four years the AAF would become the mighty weapon commemorated in the paintings reproduced on the following pages, or that it would have to scope to engage in what its commander, General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, described as a "global mission." Nevertheless, by 1944 the AAF had grown into 16 separate air forces stationed around the world, and its 1,100 planes had grown to nearly 80,000.
This book offers a thorough appraisal of Operation Allied Force, NATO's 78-day air war to compel the president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, to end his campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. The author sheds light both on the operation's strengths and on its most salient weaknesses. He outlines the key highlights of the air war and examines the various factors that interacted to induce Milosevic to capitulate when he did. He then explores air power's most critical accomplishments in Operation Allied Force as well as the problems that hindered the operation both in its planning and in its execution. Finally, he assesses Operation Allied Force from a political and strategic perspective, calling attention to those issues that are likely to have the greatest bearing on future military policymaking. The book concludes that the air war, although by no means the only factor responsible for the allies' victory, certainly set the stage for Milosevic's surrender by making it clear that he had little to gain by holding out. It concludes that in the end, Operation Allied Force's most noteworthy distinction may lie in the fact that the allies prevailed despite the myriad impediments they faced.
In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.
Historian Lee Kennett takes on the vital task of detailing the World War I aviator in this complete overview of the first air war, that Richard P. Hallion calls, "A welcome and long overdue addition to the literature of military aviation." "The whole subject of the first air war is like some imperfectly explored country: there are areas that have been crisscrossed by several generations of historians; there are regions where only writers of dissertations and abstruse monographs have ventured, and others yet that remain terra incognita," historian Lee Kennett tells his readers. There are very few books that explore military avition and its history to the fullest extent as Kennett has done in First Air War. The purpose of this book is to act as a complete overview on topics and histories that have previously gone unexplored. He tells of World War I fliers and their experiences "on all fronts and skillfully places them in proper context" (Edward M. Coffman, author of The Old Army). In considerate detail, Kennett tells the full story on how a few planes became the armies of the sky.
A dramatic and fascinating account of aerial combat during World War I, revealing the terrible risks taken by the men who fought and died in the world's first war in the air. Little more than ten years after the first powered flight, aircraft were pressed into service in World War I. Nearly forgotten in the war's massive overall death toll, some 50,000 aircrew would die in the combatant nations' fledgling air forces. The romance of aviation had a remarkable grip on the public imagination, propaganda focusing on gallant air 'aces' who become national heroes. The reality was horribly different. Marked for Death debunks popular myth to explore the brutal truths of wartime aviation: of flimsy planes and unprotected pilots; of burning nineteen-year-olds falling screaming to their deaths; of pilots blinded by the entrails of their observers. James Hamilton-Paterson also reveals how four years of war produced profound changes both in the aircraft themselves and in military attitudes and strategy. By 1918 it was widely accepted that domination of the air above the battlefield was crucial to military success, a realization that would change the nature of warfare forever.
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
"A fascinating and thoroughly researched account of Focke-Wulf 190 units, personnel and operations in the Sicilian campaign of the summer of 1943. Based on a variety of primary sources, this book describes many of the very eventful missions flown by a handful of Luftwaffe Fw 190s against a multitude of British and American land and naval targets. The book features numerous firsthand accounts from German, British, American and Commonwealth personnel, along with a wide selection of photographs and maps, and color aircraft profiles by well-known aviation artist Claes Sundin. The reader is also given a good idea of daily life for the Fw 190 pilots and mechanics during what was a long, hot Mediterranean summer, as they battled Allied bombing raids, lack of supplies, malaria, and many other complications. This is the first time that the full story of the Fw 190 in the battle for Sicily has been told, and this book will serve as the definitive account of this aspect of aviation history." REVIEWS "There are plenty of books on the Focke-Wulf Fw 190; many volumes have been published on WWII s second-most famous German fighter in service in north-west Europe and the Eastern Front, but the battle for Sicily? To my memory, nothing in any depth has been issued on this particular campaign and that s what makes Danish and Australian authors Morten Jessen and Andrew Arthy s new title so fascinating and unique. The book is a follow-up to their 2004 volume Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in North Africa and is an imposing production; it s a large format, 224 page hardback and the highly photogenic (if fighter aircraft can be considered photogenic) full-bleed image on the cover is almost irresistible if you are addicted to WWII aviation. The book is clearly produced with an eye for visual impact; as I often seem to state in this section each month, the photographic reproduction is excellent and many of the images are printed large on the page, all grist-to-the-mill for the modeler, hungry for Luftwaffe eye-candy. There are no less than 137 b/w and three color photographs in the book, plus eleven color profiles (by distinguished artist Claes Sundin) as well as maps that clearly define the specific zones of Fw 190 operation. For the modeller, there is a great deal of interest in this book. Naturally, lashings of punchy wartime photos of Fw 190s are scattered throughout and they give tantalizing clues to camouflage schemes, markings and the inevitable weathering; great stuff. But what really impresses is the sheer attention to detail; those six years of research were well spent and the result is an exhaustive account of the infamous Butcher Bird and its exploits in the vicious battle for the island of Sicily. Very highly recommended." - Tamiya Model Magazine, Marcus Nicholls "In this book the eventful history of the Fw 190 units in the Mediterranean is described from 14 May to 2 September 1943, with special attention to the battle for Sicily. It is extremely well-researched and excellently illustrated, with the story focusing on, amongst other things, why the Fw 190 was so important there. Like everywhere in this book, facts and figures complement each other perfectly, with many eyewitness accounts from both sides. Although the presentation follows a chronological thread, it remains a varied and well told story and an easy read. This exemplary book provides an overall picture of what happened, and tops it off with no less than ten meticulously compiled appendices, i.e. detailed casualty lists, camouflage and markings etc., not to mention the eleven exceptional color profiles by Claes Sundin. Conclusion: one of the best new releases for a long time!" - Flugzeig Classic, Wolfgang Muhlbauer"