Olsen - A history of air warfare

A HISTORY OF AIR WARFARE

ALSO BY JOHN ANDREAS OLSEN

Strategic Air Power in Desert Storm
John Warden and the Renaissance of American Air Power

EDITED BY

JOHN ANDREAS OLSEN

Copyright 2010 Potomac Books, Inc.

Published in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A history of air warfare / edited by John Andreas Olsen.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-59797-440-0 (hardcover : alk. paper)ISBN 978-1-59797-433-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Air warfareHistory. 2. Air powerHistory. I. Olsen, John Andreas, 1968

UG625.H57 2009

358.41409dc22

2009036637

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard.

Potomac Books, Inc.
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Dulles, Virginia 20166

First Edition

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IN THE SUMMER OF 2008, I was appointed visiting professor at the Swedish National Defence Colleges Department of Military Studies. In addition to teaching responsibilities, the college gave me the specific challenge of compiling a one-volume history of air warfare. The task was to produce a book that would appeal to military professionals; to scholars and specialists in the field of military studies; to general readers interested in air power history, theory, doctrine, and strategy; and to faculty and students at both military and civilian colleges and universities.

In an attempt to meet those objectives, I approached some of the worlds leading air warfare experts with a request to describe and analyze various campaigns in which air power has played a significant role, from the First World War to the second Lebanon war. The authors of this volume were chosen for their insight into air warfare and its history, their critical approach to the utility of air power, and their ability to present their analysis in a concise and readable fashion. I am most grateful to the authors for their contributions, their team spirit, and their appreciation of the very real difficulties of deadlines and editing that beset a project with as many authors as there are chapters.

I am naturally grateful to the Swedish National Defence College for having initiated and financed this project. In addition, I am much obliged to Sitakumari for providing the photographs and to Simon Moores for his editorial support. I would also like to thank a long-standing friend, H. P. Willmott, for advice and encouragement, and I am deeply grateful to Margaret S. MacDonald for her generous help in finalizing the manuscript. Finally, I have worked with Potomac Books previously, and again its team has been professional in its commitment to see manuscripts turned into books: I would especially like to thank John Church, Elizabeth Demers, Sam Dorrance, Julie Kimmel, and Lisa Yambrick.