RAF: The Birth of the World's First Air Force by Overy Ph.D., Richard

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. 1st Printing. Trade Paperback. Fine. 5x0x8. First printing. An exceptional copy. 2019 Trade Paperback. viii, 150 pp. Includes black-and-white photographs. The birth of the Royal Air Force during World War I marked a pivotal moment in modern military and political history. With Europe’s western front frozen in a bloody stalemate of trench warfare, both sides sought some means of directly attacking enemy resources and morale. The new technologies of air power were used at first for reconnaissance of enemy positions for artillery strikes. By 1917 German bombers had begun raids on British cities, including an attack on London that killed hundreds, with eighteen schoolchildren among the casualties. Public outrage in Britain sparked a call for air defense and spurred political support for an independent air ministry. Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his minister of munitions, Winston Churchill, led the debates over how to shape… Read More