Winged Defense: The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power-Economic and Military - Softcover

Mitchell, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486257711 ISBN 13: 9780486257716

Publisher: Dover Pubns, 1988

Synopsis

An outstanding U.S. air commander in World War I, General William Mitchell was the first serious proponent of an independent U.S. air force and a unified defense department. His staunch and relentless advocacy of air power, however, was accompanied by outspoken public attacks against the War and Navy departments, for which he was court-martialed in 1925. Mitchell's theories of American air power, nevertheless, were sound; and eventually many of his proposals and prophecies?including strategic bombardment, mass airborne operations, and the eclipse of the battleship by the airplane?were demonstrated in World War II.
In this book, first published in 1925, Mitchell speaks of America's present and future role in the air. Compiled from Congressional records, articles in public journals, and personal experience, Winged Defense outlines the importance of air power in military and commercial terms, discusses U.S. aeronautical leadership, the dominance of aircraft over naval vessels and the organization of an air force, the importance of establishing an air defense system, the effect of air power on modifying and limiting international armaments, defensive measures against aircraft, and many other topics. Supplemented with rare vintage photographs, the book is a clearly written testament by one of the twentieth century's most farsighted and influential military leaders.

About this title

About the Author

Robert S. Ehlers Jr. is a colonel in the United States Air Force. He is currently serving as a professor of airpower history at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Colonel Ehlers has also served in command positions at the squadron and group levels.

Review

Arguably no American was more instrumental in promoting the development and use of airpower than Billy Mitchell. Winged Defense remains a premier aviation classic and a must-read for all service and commercial aviators. Logisticians, military historians, entrepreneurs, economists, leaders of all types, and those interested in the power of ideas will find this book valuable.

--Air and Space Power Journal

 

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Pubns
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486257711
• ISBN 13: 9780486257716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 16