A History of Strategic Bombing

A History of Strategic Bombing

Author: Lee B. Kennett

Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA

Published: 1982-01-01

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 9780684177816

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Book Synopsis A History of Strategic Bombing by : Lee B. Kennett

Download or read book A History of Strategic Bombing written by Lee B. Kennett and published by Macmillan Reference USA. This book was released on 1982-01-01 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II

Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II

Author: Stewart Halsey Ross

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-10-03

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1476616116

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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.”


Book Synopsis Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II by : Stewart Halsey Ross

Download or read book Strategic Bombing by the United States in World War II written by Stewart Halsey Ross and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-10-03 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.”


Death from the Heavens

Death from the Heavens

Author: Kenneth P. Werrell

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13:

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"This book is the first to take a comprehensive look at the history of strategic bombing from its beginnings to the present. Written by a historian who is also an expert on the technology of bombing and its application, the work covers the theory, the hardware, and the operations of strategic bombing... Although his book is dominated by aircraft, it also covers air-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. This study offers a critical analysis of strategic bombing and concludes by calling into question the value of this type of warfare"--Dust jacket.


Book Synopsis Death from the Heavens by : Kenneth P. Werrell

Download or read book Death from the Heavens written by Kenneth P. Werrell and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is the first to take a comprehensive look at the history of strategic bombing from its beginnings to the present. Written by a historian who is also an expert on the technology of bombing and its application, the work covers the theory, the hardware, and the operations of strategic bombing... Although his book is dominated by aircraft, it also covers air-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles. This study offers a critical analysis of strategic bombing and concludes by calling into question the value of this type of warfare"--Dust jacket.


Bombing to Win

Bombing to Win

Author: Robert A. Pape

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2014-04-11

Total Pages: 547

ISBN-13: 0801471508

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From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.


Book Synopsis Bombing to Win by : Robert A. Pape

Download or read book Bombing to Win written by Robert A. Pape and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-11 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.


Strategic Bombing in World War Two

Strategic Bombing in World War Two

Author: David MacIsaac

Publisher: Dissertations-G

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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En beskrivelse af Strategic Bombing Survey's formål og organiseringen af dets arbejde. Tillige en kritik analyse af undersøgelsens ledelse og resultater. Forfatteren havde undervist i krigshistorie ved Air Force Academy, Colorado.


Book Synopsis Strategic Bombing in World War Two by : David MacIsaac

Download or read book Strategic Bombing in World War Two written by David MacIsaac and published by Dissertations-G. This book was released on 1976 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: En beskrivelse af Strategic Bombing Survey's formål og organiseringen af dets arbejde. Tillige en kritik analyse af undersøgelsens ledelse og resultater. Forfatteren havde undervist i krigshistorie ved Air Force Academy, Colorado.


How Effective is Strategic Bombing?

How Effective is Strategic Bombing?

Author: Gian P. Gentile

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9780814731352

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In the wake of WWII, President Truman established the US Strategic Bombing Survey to determine how effectively strategic air power had been applied during the war. The final study has been used for decades as an objective primary source and a guiding text. Gentile (history, US Military Academy) re-examines this document to reveal how it reflected the American conceptual approach to strategic bombing. He exposes the survey as largely tautological, throwing into question many of the central tenets of American air power philosophy and strategy. He shows how recent problems with bomb damage assessment in the Balkans reinforce his conclusions. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR


Book Synopsis How Effective is Strategic Bombing? by : Gian P. Gentile

Download or read book How Effective is Strategic Bombing? written by Gian P. Gentile and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the wake of WWII, President Truman established the US Strategic Bombing Survey to determine how effectively strategic air power had been applied during the war. The final study has been used for decades as an objective primary source and a guiding text. Gentile (history, US Military Academy) re-examines this document to reveal how it reflected the American conceptual approach to strategic bombing. He exposes the survey as largely tautological, throwing into question many of the central tenets of American air power philosophy and strategy. He shows how recent problems with bomb damage assessment in the Balkans reinforce his conclusions. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR


Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare

Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare

Author: Tami Biddle

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-01-10

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1400824974

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A major revision of our understanding of long-range bombing, this book examines how Anglo-American ideas about "strategic" bombing were formed and implemented. It argues that ideas about bombing civilian targets rested on--and gained validity from--widespread but substantially erroneous assumptions about the nature of modern industrial societies and their vulnerability to aerial bombardment. These assumptions were derived from the social and political context of the day and were maintained largely through cognitive error and bias. Tami Davis Biddle explains how air theorists, and those influenced by them, came to believe that strategic bombing would be an especially effective coercive tool and how they responded when their assumptions were challenged. Biddle analyzes how a particular interpretation of the World War I experience, together with airmen's organizational interests, shaped interwar debates about strategic bombing and preserved conceptions of its potentially revolutionary character. This flawed interpretation as well as a failure to anticipate implementation problems were revealed as World War II commenced. By then, the British and Americans had invested heavily in strategic bombing. They saw little choice but to try to solve the problems in real time and make long-range bombing as effective as possible. Combining narrative with analysis, this book presents the first-ever comparative history of British and American strategic bombing from its origins through 1945. In examining the ideas and rhetoric on which strategic bombing depended, it offers critical insights into the validity and robustness of those ideas--not only as they applied to World War II but as they apply to contemporary warfare.


Book Synopsis Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare by : Tami Biddle

Download or read book Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare written by Tami Biddle and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major revision of our understanding of long-range bombing, this book examines how Anglo-American ideas about "strategic" bombing were formed and implemented. It argues that ideas about bombing civilian targets rested on--and gained validity from--widespread but substantially erroneous assumptions about the nature of modern industrial societies and their vulnerability to aerial bombardment. These assumptions were derived from the social and political context of the day and were maintained largely through cognitive error and bias. Tami Davis Biddle explains how air theorists, and those influenced by them, came to believe that strategic bombing would be an especially effective coercive tool and how they responded when their assumptions were challenged. Biddle analyzes how a particular interpretation of the World War I experience, together with airmen's organizational interests, shaped interwar debates about strategic bombing and preserved conceptions of its potentially revolutionary character. This flawed interpretation as well as a failure to anticipate implementation problems were revealed as World War II commenced. By then, the British and Americans had invested heavily in strategic bombing. They saw little choice but to try to solve the problems in real time and make long-range bombing as effective as possible. Combining narrative with analysis, this book presents the first-ever comparative history of British and American strategic bombing from its origins through 1945. In examining the ideas and rhetoric on which strategic bombing depended, it offers critical insights into the validity and robustness of those ideas--not only as they applied to World War II but as they apply to contemporary warfare.


The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory

The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory

Author: Craig F. Morris

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2017-10-15

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1682472531

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Craig F. Morris explores the beginnings of American strategic bombing theory, why it changed over time, the factors that shaped that change, and how technology molded military doctrine. This much-needed book provides a full spectrum discussion of the American strategic bombing concept in a way that advances aviation history. In the minds of forward thinking aerial theorists the new technology of the airplane removed the limitations of geography, defenses, and operational reach that had restricted ground and naval forces since the dawn of human conflict. With aviation, a nation could avoid costly traditional military campaigns and attack the industrial heart of an enemy using long-range bombers. Yet, the acceptance of strategic bombing doctrine proved a hard-fought process. This is not the story of any one person or event; instead, it is a twisting tale of individual efforts, organizational infighting, political priorities, and technological integration. By tracing the complex interrelationships of these four causal factors, this book provides a greater understanding of the origins and rise to dominance of American strategic bombing theory.


Book Synopsis The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory by : Craig F. Morris

Download or read book The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory written by Craig F. Morris and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2017-10-15 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Craig F. Morris explores the beginnings of American strategic bombing theory, why it changed over time, the factors that shaped that change, and how technology molded military doctrine. This much-needed book provides a full spectrum discussion of the American strategic bombing concept in a way that advances aviation history. In the minds of forward thinking aerial theorists the new technology of the airplane removed the limitations of geography, defenses, and operational reach that had restricted ground and naval forces since the dawn of human conflict. With aviation, a nation could avoid costly traditional military campaigns and attack the industrial heart of an enemy using long-range bombers. Yet, the acceptance of strategic bombing doctrine proved a hard-fought process. This is not the story of any one person or event; instead, it is a twisting tale of individual efforts, organizational infighting, political priorities, and technological integration. By tracing the complex interrelationships of these four causal factors, this book provides a greater understanding of the origins and rise to dominance of American strategic bombing theory.


A History of Bombing

A History of Bombing

Author: Sven Lindqvist

Publisher:

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781847085450

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An unconventional history of aerial bombing and the profound and terrible effects of its aftermath on the modern world.


Book Synopsis A History of Bombing by : Sven Lindqvist

Download or read book A History of Bombing written by Sven Lindqvist and published by . This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unconventional history of aerial bombing and the profound and terrible effects of its aftermath on the modern world.


Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II

Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II

Author: Phil Haun

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2019-04-12

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0813176794

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Following the cataclysmic losses suffered in World War I, air power theorists in Europe advocated for long-range bombers to overfly the trenches and strike deep into the enemy's heartland. The bombing of cities was seen as a means to collapse the enemy's will to resist and bring the war to a quick end. In the United States, airmen called for an independent air force, but with the nation's return to isolationism, there was little appetite for an offensive air power doctrine. By the 1930s, however, a cadre of officers at the US Army Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) had articulated an operational concept of high-altitude daylight precision bombing (HADPB) that would be the foundation for a uniquely American vision of strategic air attack. In Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II editor Phil Haun brings together nine ACTS lecture transcripts, which have been preserved in Air Force archives, exactly as delivered to the airmen destined to lead the US Army Air Forces in World War II. Presented is a distinctive American strategy of high-altitude daylight precision bombing as told through lectures given at the ACTS during the interwar period and how these airmen put the theory to the test. The book examines the Air Corps theory of HADPB as compared to the reality of combat in World War II by relying on recent, revisionist histories that have given scholars a deeper understanding of the impact of strategic bombing on Germany.


Book Synopsis Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II by : Phil Haun

Download or read book Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II written by Phil Haun and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2019-04-12 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the cataclysmic losses suffered in World War I, air power theorists in Europe advocated for long-range bombers to overfly the trenches and strike deep into the enemy's heartland. The bombing of cities was seen as a means to collapse the enemy's will to resist and bring the war to a quick end. In the United States, airmen called for an independent air force, but with the nation's return to isolationism, there was little appetite for an offensive air power doctrine. By the 1930s, however, a cadre of officers at the US Army Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) had articulated an operational concept of high-altitude daylight precision bombing (HADPB) that would be the foundation for a uniquely American vision of strategic air attack. In Lectures of the Air Corps Tactical School and American Strategic Bombing in World War II editor Phil Haun brings together nine ACTS lecture transcripts, which have been preserved in Air Force archives, exactly as delivered to the airmen destined to lead the US Army Air Forces in World War II. Presented is a distinctive American strategy of high-altitude daylight precision bombing as told through lectures given at the ACTS during the interwar period and how these airmen put the theory to the test. The book examines the Air Corps theory of HADPB as compared to the reality of combat in World War II by relying on recent, revisionist histories that have given scholars a deeper understanding of the impact of strategic bombing on Germany.