Also by Walter J. Boyne; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter One - Fledgling Wings; Continued Lighter-Than-Air Progress; Airships: Popular and Professional; The Heavier-Than-Air Flying Machine; First Military Uses of the Airplane; Other Conflicts; The General Situation in Europe; Chapter Two - Air Power in World War I; The First Major Instances of Air Power's Significant Influence; An Air-Power Offset; Mission Specialization; The Growth of Aerial Reconnaissance; The Growth of Naval Air Power; Chapter Three - Fighters and Bombers.

Bombing in World War IBombing and the National Psyches; The Second Phase of the First Strategic Bombing Campaign; Great Britain's Bombing Efforts; Chapter Four - Growth of Air-Power Theory; Great Britain; Italy; United States; Germany; France; Soviet Union; Japan; Chapter Five - Air Power and Its Influence Between the Wars; German Peace-time Use of Air Power; Great Britain and Air Control in the Middle East; Japan against China and the Soviet Union; Italy in Ethiopia; Air Power in the Spanish Civil War; Chapter Six - The Search for Air Power, World War II, 1939-41; The Early Battles.

The Polish Air ForceThe Phony War; The Scandinavian Campaigns; The Air Battle of France; The Battle of Britain; The Battle Won and the Lessons Learned; Chapter Seven - The Growth of Air Power, 1941-43; A Tough Fight for Six Months; Air Power in the Mediterranean Campaigns; Air Power over Europe: Round the Clock Bombing; Getting Started; Daytime Air Superiority Won-by the Luftwaffe; Bomber Command's Grueling Night Battle against the Luftwaffe; One Final Chance; Chapter Eight - True Air Superiority, Then Absolute Air Supremacy, 1944-45.

The Night Campaign against Berlin: Last Victory for the LuftwaffeThe Quest for Air Superiority: Operation Argument; The Fight for Air Superiority; Establishing True Air Power; Air Power in the Pacific; Army Air Forces Operations; Ultimate Air Power; The Influence of Air Power in World War II; Chapter Nine - The Cold War, 1945-62; The Demand for Demobilization; Korea and the Conundrum of Ultimate Air Power; The Race to Aerospace Power; Soviet Air Power; Intelligence Gathering and the Space Age; CORONA: The First Successful Spy Satellites; Approach to Armageddon; Aftermath and Prelude.

Chapter Ten - The Cold War, 1963-73Doctrine as Its Own Enemy; The Slow Slide to Involvement; Side Effects of the Success in Cuba; Air Power in Vietnam; The Limits of Air Power, or the Limits of Political Will?; Conclusion; Chapter Eleven - Post World War II Middle-East Conflicts, Terror, and the Modern Air War; The Six-Day War, June 1967; The War of Attrition, July 1967 to August 1970; Air Power in the Iraq-Iran War, 1980-88; The United States Reinvention of Air Power after Vietnam; Air-Power Philosophers in the Modern Era; Air Power in the Persian Gulf War; Air Power in Small Wars.

Terrorism and Technology.

The Influence of Air Power upon History makes a startlingly new analysis of the far-reaching implications flight has had on warfare, politics, diplomacy, technology and mass culture. Author Walter Boyne examines the application of air power from the very earliest days of the balloon down to the current era of space warfare and postulates some new and controversial theories that are certain to arouse comment. The author unerringly depicts the contributions made by the people and planes of each era, some of them famous, some virtually unknown, but all vitally important. He highlights the critica