“for a country that does not actively seek to expand its territories, but rather to achieve global hegemony, strategic air power is the nearly perfect weapon”—<i>Liberty</i>; “recommended”—<i>Catholic Library World</i>; “highly recommended...a well-written, insightful, thought-provoking survey...most interesting”—<i>Stone & Stone Second World War Books</i>; “a fascinating study, well written and compellingly argued...recommended”—<i>Colorado Libraries</i>; “the most informative work so far...fascinating”—<i>The Military Historical Society Bulletin.</i>

The United States relied heavily on bombing to defeat the Germans and the Japanese in World War II, and air raids were touted as "precision" bombing in American propaganda. But was precision possible over cloud-covered Europe or a darkened Japanese countryside? Could the vaunted Norden optical bombsight in fact "drop bombs into pickle barrels" as advertised? Were the American aircrews well trained and well protected? How good were their airplanes? What were the results of the costly raids?

This work sets suppositions against facts surrounding the United States' use of strategic bombing in World War II. Chapters cover the events leading up to World War II; the start of the war; the seers and the planners; the airplanes, bombs, bombsights, and aircrews; the planes Germany used to defend itself against American planes; the five cities (Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki) that experienced the most destruction; and the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey of the damage done by aerial bombing.

The book also probes the government's myth-building statements that supported America's view of itself as a uniquely humanitarian nation, and analyzes the role played by interservice rivalry--"battleship admirals" against "bomber generals."

Les mer
This work sets suppositions against facts surrounding the USA's use of strategic bombing in World War II. Chapters cover the events leading up to the war; the start of the war; the seers and planners; the airplanes, bombs, bombsites and aircrews; the cities that saw the heaviest bombing; and more.
Les mer
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     

Introduction     
1 The Beginnings     
2 The Great War     
3 The Seers     
4 The Planners     
5 The Crucibles     
6 The Airplanes     
7 The Bombs     
8 The Bombsights     
9 The Aircrews     
10 The Defenses     
11 The Five Cities     
12 The Surveys     
Epilogue     

Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780786414123
Publisert
2002-12-27
Utgiver
Vendor
McFarland & Co Inc
Vekt
499 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Dybde
13 mm
Aldersnivå
G, UU, UP, P, 01, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Om bidragsyterne

The late Stewart Halsey Ross was a mechanical engineer and history professor. He spent two years analyzing bomb accuracy tests for the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps. He lived in Norwalk, Connecticut.