History of Strategic Bombing, The

In 1849, the Austrians launched explosive balloons against Venice, the first air attack on a city. In 1945, atomic bombs dropped from the B-29 Enola Gay destroyed Hiroshima. This highly readable book tells the dramatic story of the development of strategic bombing, not only from the military point of view but in all its ethical and international legal ramifications.

Featuring many never-before-published photographs, the book covers all the outstanding events of a 160-year period: the first balloon ascent, in 1783; the aerial campaigns of both world wars; the development of American and European aircraft and air forces; theorists and prophets of air power in Europe and the United States, such as Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell; the rise and fall of the Luftwaffe; and efforts to control the spread of aerial warfare. Professor Kennett shows how the bombing of military targets gradually gave way to widespread attacking of civilian ones and chronicles the development and consequences of such strategies as precision bombing, area bombing, and morale bombing.