To Command the Sky: The Battle for Air Superiority Over Germany, 1942-1944 (SMITHSONIAN HISTORY OF AVIATION AND SPACEFLIGHT SERIES) (SIGNED BY 9 MEMBERS OF THE MIGHTY EIGHTH)

McFarland, Stephen L.; Newton, Wesley Phillips

ISBN 10: 1560980699 / ISBN 13: 9781560980698

Published by Smithsonian Books, Washington and London, 1991

About this Item

Octavo. xiii, 328 pages, indexed. Hardcover with a blue dust jacket, now in mylar. There is a small blue "Signed" label taped to inside of the mylar at the foot of the jacket spine. Light wear to the jacket. The book is sound and clean. There is a large bookplate on the verso of the front flyleaf with "The Mighty Eighth" printed at the top and which bears 9 SIGNATURES of members of the Eighth. One of these people has also signed the front flyleaf on the recto. Some of these signatures are hard to read, and so far we've found only one person mentioned in the index. The signatures we can read are: "Walter C. Beckham; Gerald Brown; Edwin Heller; Kit Carson' Rob. Olds (Robert Olds in index); J. H. Bennett". This book is NOT signed by the authors of the book. Illustrated.

Seller Inventory # 054224

Bibliographic Details

• Title: To Command the Sky: The Battle for Air Superiority Over Germany, 1942-1944 (SMITHSONIAN HISTORY OF AVIATION AND SPACEFLIGHT SERIES) (SIGNED BY 9 MEMBERS OF THE MIGHTY EIGHTH)
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books, Washington and London
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1560980699
• ISBN 13: 9781560980698
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Signed: Signed By Subject
• Seller catalogs:
  • Europe
  • Signed Books & Association Copies
  • World War II

About this title

Synopsis

Examines the people, technology, command decisions, and events in the struggle for control of the skies in World War II

Reviews

YA-- The authors confirm that the winning of air superiority and not the success of strategic bombing paved the way for the Allied invasion of France and ultimately their victory in Europe. They use both American and German accounts to furnish specific explanations of the disputes surrounding the air campaign of the war. This book provides a careful study of the people, technology, military decisions, and events in the struggle for control of the skies.

Mike Printz, Topeka West H.S., Topeka, KS

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The concept of strategic bombing (eliminating the enemy's war-making ability by destroying his industrial base) dominated American air operations until 1944, when it was replaced by the quest for air superiority, or control of the skies. In this untold WW II story McFarland, who teaches history at Auburn University, and Newton ( The Perilous Sky ) suggest that the turning point occurred with Gen. James Doolitte's command decision that U.S. fighters, instead of protecting American bombers directly, would henceforth seek out and destroy German fighters. With the German training establishment unable to replace losses in its fighter arm, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower could tell his D-Day invasion troops, ``If you see fighting aircraft over you, they will be ours.'' This latest entry in the Smithsonian History of Aviation series argues persuasively that the campaign for control of European skies ranks in importance with such epic confrontations as those of Midway and Stalingrad.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.