The Great Air WarMacmillan, 1968 - 558 pages "The Great Air War is the first comprehensive account of the battle fliers, their planes, and their vital role in World War I. Aerial combat in "the war to end war" was an utterly unprecedented new chapter in military potential of the flying machine was unfathomed. It had been only a decade since Orville Wright had made history's first successful airplane flight. High- ranking officers in all countries dismissed the use of the plane for any purpose except possible reconnoitering. But as the war progressed, aviation technology boomed, the plane became a lethal weapon - and a new warrior breed was born. The story of these men - the now legendary heroes and their man-to-man encounters, their breathtaking victories and heartbreaking defeats is spellbinding: Aaron Norman seats the reader right in the cockpit beside the great aces and many less famous but equally courageous airmen. Some of the individual stories rank with the classics of adventure literature. Colourful biographies of the top aces of each nation, and their victory scores, are a feature of the Great Air War. The various war planes are described in detail: the Sopwiths, Nieuports, Fokkers, Spads, Albatroses, SE-5's, and performance, strong points and weaknesses. The incredible story of Count Zeppelin's terrifying if vulnerable dirigibles is recounted at length. It was with this giant craft that the German high command hoped to bring Britain to her knees, and the dramatic picture of these monsters hovering ominously in the night skies over England is one of the many high spots of the book. For its complete story of the monumental action as the seesaw battle went on for supremacy in the sky, and for its many anecdotal stories in human terms throughout, The Great Air War is superb reading; the book in its entirely is also of major importance as history, since the chronicle of World War I is incomplete without this first full coverage of the part played in it by ariel combat. The illustrations add to the comprehensive coverage. There are two 16-page inserts of photographs - 65 photos in all - and 54 side -view drawings of the planes. With full index, appendices and bibliography". - Publisher |
Table des matières
AMERICA AND THE AIR | 1 |
III | 26 |
IV | 50 |
Droits d'auteur | |
14 autres sections non affichées
Expressions et termes fréquents
aerial aeronautics air force Air Service aircraft airdrome airfield airmen airplane airship Albatros Albert Ball Allied altitude American Anthony Fokker army artillery attack August aviation balloon battle became biplane Boelcke bombers bombs British bullets Captain cockpit combat command crashed crew death dirigible dived engine England Escadrille fighter fire flew flight flyers flying corps Fokker Fonck four France front Garros German Goering ground Guynemer h.p. Armament Heurtaux hour infantry Jasta 11 killed Lafayette Escadrille land later Lewis gun Lieutenant lines London Lufbery m.p.h. Ceiling machine gun Manfred von Richthofen Mannock Max Immelmann McCudden miles military monoplane months Morane-Saulnier morning never Nieuport Nordholz Nungesser observer offensive officers Oswald Boelcke patrol pilots propeller raids reconnaissance Richthofen Royal Flying Corps score ship shooting shot single-seater Somme Sopwith Sopwith Camel Spad speed squadron Strasser thousand feet tion Trenchard triplane two-seater Udet United Verdun victories Voss weeks wing zeppelin