Architects of Air Power

The Epic of Flight

by David Nevin, Time-Life Books (Editor)

Nevin, David Et Al., Architects Of Air The Epic Of Flight

Genres: Aviation, Nonfiction, Military History, History

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

David Reinhardt Nevin was born in Washington. His father, a veterinarian in the US Army when it had a horse cavalry, was soon assigned to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Mr. Nevin joined the US Navy as a teenager and served in the Pacific. After the war he did poorly in college, but could write well enough to be hired as a police reporter for The Brownsville (Texas) Herald. That led to work for Time and Life magazines.

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1908, H. G. Wells wrote “The War in the Air” in which he envisioned destruction and terror from the air. It didn’t take long for that vision to become a reality during World War I. Americans such as Billy Mitchell, John Macready, and William Moffett recognized the value of airpower and sought to conquer aerial frontiers as men like Glenn Martin developed bombers for the American military.

At the same time, Herrmann Goring, Manfred von Richthofen, and Hugo Junkers were similarly involved in the development of airpower for Germany. And, after having declared war on Germany at the beginning of World War I, Japan continued its production of airplanes.

This, then, set the stage for what would ultimately become war from the air.

In the aftermath of the First World War, the players, the planes, the trial, the skirmishes of war combine to tell the story of the evolution of military aviation. Archive photographs of the people, the planes, the battles accompany the narrative and illustrate the unfolding saga of the architects of airpower.

Part of the Epic of Flight series, this is the story of the development of the aircraft of war.

Recommended for readers interested in aviation history, the role of the airplane in war, and/or early aviation pioneers.

[Mike Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all Time-Life Books, excellent illustrations with a well-written and competently researched text. This volume traces the evolution of the use of air power. Military leadership didn't quite know what to do with aviation when it emerged during WWI although a few far-sighted souls, among them H.G. Wells envisioned its possibilities which would become horrifyingly reality in the next war. Most of the book deals with the period between the wars when air forces were established and theories tested during the Spanish Civil War.

[Jeremy Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book discusses the birth of air-forces in six major countries from the end of the First World War to the testing grounds of the Spanish Civil War. Per usual, the editors at Time Life Books put together an easy to read and informative volume.

[Professor · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most of these books, it's great if you need something you can pick up and put down that's moderately interesting, and it's a good overview of the subject but is completely superficial. Great pictures though.