A History of Air Warfare

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What to expect

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 World War I 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.

Critics Review

  • “A fine assembly of papers on air power history and development and a ‘bible’ packed with information. This captures the changing history of air warfare and analyzes the role air power has played in military conflicts over the last century. These sixteen essays pack a punch and are a ‘must’ for any serious military history library.” 

    Midwest Book Review

  • “A better qualified editor for such a volume could hardly be found. There is no better work on the general history of air warfare than this volume.”

    Journal of Military History

  • “A History of Air Warfare is an epic work that captures all the essential elements that have made the airplane a dominant force in warfare.”

    General Charles A. Horner, USAF (Ret.)

  • “John Olsen has assembled the best historians of air power; the result is a superb overview, indispensable to anyone interested in how the expansion of warfare into the third dimension has transformed the art of war. A first-rate work.”

    Eliot Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins University

  • “A History of Air Warfare is…in a class of its own. Olsen and his very expert authors deliver on the promise of providing a history of air power that is both appreciatively celebrating and critical, as the record requires. No existing history even comes close to Olsen for domain, depth, and contextual analysis.”

    Colin S. Gray, professor of politics and international relations, University of Reading

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