The First Air War 1914-1918

by Kennett, Lee

• ISBN13: 9780684871202
• ISBN10: 0684871203
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-30
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Lee B. Kennett is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Georgia.

Table of Contents

To the Reader	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
The Dawn of Air Power	1	(22)
The Eyes of the Army	23	(18)
The Emergence of the Bomber	41	(22)
The Development of Aerial Combat	63	(20)
Harnessing Air Power	83	(10)
The Machines	93	(20)
The Men: Selection and Training	113	(20)
The Men: En Escadrille	133	(18)
A New Breed of Heroes	151	(24)
The War on Other Fronts	175	(12)
Maritime Aviation	187	(20)
The Final Battles	207	(10)
An End and a Beginning	217	(14)
Endnotes	231	(20)
Essay on Sources	251	(10)
Index	261