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Abbreviations
Preface
1.Introduction
2.The Start of a New Arm
3.The First World War
4.The 1920s
5.The 1930s
6.The Second World War
7.The Early Cold War, 1946–1962
8.The Cold War: The Middle Period, 1963–1975
9.The Later Cold War, 1976–1989
10.Air Power and the Revolution in Military Affairs, 1990–2003
11.A Complex Reality, 2004–2015
12.Into the Future
13.Conclusions
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Jeremy Black graduated from Cambridge University with a starred First and did graduate work at Oxford University before teaching at the University of Durham and then at the University of Exeter, where he is professor of history. He has held visiting chairs at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Texas Christian University, and Stillman College. He is a 2018 Templeton Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Black received the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize from the Society for Military History in 2008. His recent books include Air Power: A Global History; War and Technology; Naval Power: A History of Warfare and the Sea from 1500 Onwards; and Rethinking World War Two: The Conflict and Its Legacy.
Synthesizing numerous secondary sources and combining them with
some primary research, Black offers a synthetic history of air
power that emphasizes the post–WW II era, when military aviation
matured considerably, then carries his survey all the way to recent
air operations and military aircraft acquisitions. Over the course
of 13 chapters, this remarkable book shows the context of aerial
combat not only through evolving technology but also through
economic exigencies, political prestige, and shifting sensibilities
on such matters as civilian casualties. By reminding readers that
military aviation does not solve matters alone, the author also
hints at the considerable intricacies associated with any aerial
campaign, from political decision making to the incorporation of
naval air power. However, to distill such complexity, Black assumes
readers will be familiar with the variety of aircraft named yet
neither described nor pictured. Lay audiences with a prior interest
will appreciate the wider context offered as well as the brief
glossary and supplementary reading list. . . .Summing Up:
Recommended. Most levels/libraries.
*CHOICE*
[Jeremy Black] is an outstanding scholar. . . . [The] intelligent
predictions that Black makes here . . . are much more subtle and
nuanced. As a result, they are likely to stand the test of time. .
. . To conclude, this is a useful introduction to airpower and it
is particularly good in looking at it, not in isolation, but in the
larger context. Airpower is not presented here as the silver bullet
resolving all problems, but as a game-changer in many respects. It
opened the door to city bombing on a scale that has made some think
of genocide, but also to precision targeting, with the arrival of
smart missiles. All this is ably demonstrated in this volume.
*RUSI Journal*
An excellent general history of airpower and an indispensable work
for anyone who has anything to do with the employment of air
assets. A range of audiences, from policymakers, to military
personnel, to students of military history, should read it. . . .
Black seeks to look beyond airpower as an asset in armed conflict
to its varied and important roles in achieving strategic aims short
of war. This is an immensely important and much overlooked aspect
of airpower’s enduring strategic utility. . . . This work also
diverges from the vast majority of airpower histories in its
careful assessment of the air weapon’s utility in smaller air
forces and also within larger ones in emerging major powers with
rapidly evolving military capabilities, such as China and India. .
. . Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Black engages
energetically with policymaker failures to use airpower in
realistic ways to achieve strategic aims in various armed
conflicts. . . . Black’s superb insights regarding the enduring
strategic value of airpower across the spectrum of conflict, from
humanitarian crises and conflicts short of war to high-intensity
conventional or even nuclear wars, are a highlight of his work. . .
. Most of all, it reminds us that deemphasizing airpower would be a
serious error. Black’s
outstanding work warns us about this in no uncertain terms.
*U.S. Military History Review*
There are currently many books and accounts about air power
available. Dr Peter Gray’s book goes much further than all of them.
It accurately describes itself as a textbook. It draws upon an
impressively large number of sources and bibliography to offer the
student a series of detailed discussions on various aspects of the
subject. It covers in some depth air power’s evolution, history,
theory and practice. It looks at the political and legal aspects,
the ethics and morality of air campaigns over the decades, reviews
the huge body of literature on the subject, looks at many of the
influential leaders and practitioners over the years, such as
Mitchell, Douhet, Trenchard and Portal and discusses how to study
and write about it.
*Aerospace*
[A] well-written summary of a broad topic.... Air Power: A Global
History will be most useful for readers new to the topic who are
looking for a beginning overview. More knowledgeable readers will
still find much of interest.
*Parameters*
Air Power offers new insights about the global reaches and dynamics
of air power.... Black offers readers a concise historical
context to understand air power scholarship. Air Power serves as a
helpful entry point for students, young scholars, or general
readers... [I]t is a fine addition to Black’s large and growing
oeuvre.
*H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online*
Readers of military aviation history will find Air Power: A Global
History comes from one of the world's leading aviation historians
and provides a compelling examination that goes beyond the usual
consideration of conventional warfare to consider unconventional
wars around the world. Chapters employ a chronological approach in
detailing events from the 1920s to modern times, showing how air
power was a significant part of conflicts between states, how it
ultimately revolutionized military thinking about how warfare was
conducted, and how refined organization and evolving doctrines
affected military choices. Changing values, perspectives, and
strategic operations are documented throughout, creating a powerful
survey highly recommended for military history and aviation history
collections alike.
*Donovan's Bookshelf*
[A] stand out volume in the history of air warfare. Black covers
the traditional subjects of the great wars, but he goes into great
depth in lesser known conflicts. . . . Black covers the history of
air power from balloons to drones and presents often overlooked
information in the development of air power as well as its
successes and failures. . . . A very detailed look at the history
of air power in a surprisingly short book.
*Evilcyclist's Blog*
Combining conceptual insight with clear, readable descriptions of
technology, Jeremy Black describes how air power evolved from
modest beginnings into a major national instrument of both
deterrence and compellence. By covering the societal and
psychological aspects of air warfare as well as air power’s
hundred-year history of delivering air superiority, situational
awareness, maneuver and strike, this excellent book fills a real
void in the existing literature. Highly recommended.
*Col. Prof. John Andreas Olsen, Royal Norwegian Air Force*
Jeremy Black’s Air Power is destined to be the go-to book on the
subject. While inspiring in its breadth and scope, the work does
not lose sight of the key issues that propelled the development of
military aviation such as leadership, technological advances, and
political considerations. Most important, Black does not fall
victim to air power theorists’ propaganda, instead maintaining a
clear-eyed focus on the limitations of air power and its
integration with land and sea forces.
*Jason W. Warren, U.S. Army War College*
This book couldn’t be timelier. As desperate governments search for
ways to avoid the quagmire of ground combat in the Middle East and
elsewhere, the notion that air power on its own can achieve
strategic objectives is rapidly taking on the dimensions of a
panacea. But eminent military historian Jeremy Black, writing for
informed citizens and decision-makers alike, assays the historical
record of military aviation’s contribution to victory in war and
concludes that governments would do well to exercise caution in
putting all of their strategic eggs in the air power basket.
*Bruce Vandervort, Virginia Military Institute*
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