A Few Great Captains: The Men and Events That Shaped the Development of U.S. Air Power

by Dewitt S. Copp

The rickety frame-and-fabric machines of the early 1900s hardly inspired confidence in the potential of military aviation; but between the Wright brothers' demonstration of a "military" aircraft in 1908 and the German invasion of Poland in 1939 a handful of determined visionaries struggled to convince a skeptical, jealous Army, and Congress, that future warfare would depend heavily on air forces. Their dedication eventually produced the most powerful striking force in the world.

Full of personal detail, this superb account of the evolution of the U.S. air power is also the story of four bold men - H.H. "Hap" Arnold, Frank M. Andrews, Carl Spaatz, and Ira C. Eaker - and the many others who shared their dream.

Genres: Aviation, History, Military Fiction, Military History, Nonfiction, Biography

531 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

DeWitt Samuel Copp was a writer whose work often focused on the Cold War,
He wrote more than 30 books, fiction and nonfiction, and many articles about the cold war and espionage, as well as another passion, aviation. A flight instructor and pilot, he served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

Later as the international marketing director of the Weather Engineering Corporation, Copp helped develop equipment that created artificial rain by using airplanes that dropped silver-iodide crystals into clouds.

Mr. Copp began writing professionally at 19, when his first radio play was broadcast. After the war, he wrote radio and television plays for Kraft Theater, the Bell Telephone Hour and the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

He published his first book, an aviation thriller, ''Radius of Action,'' in 1960. In 1961 he and Marshall Peck Jr., an editor at The New York Herald Tribune, wrote ''Betrayal at the U.N.,'' an investigation into the death of Paul Bang-Jensen, a former Danish diplomat at the United Nations.

Hoping to increase United States support for the government in Taiwan, their next collaboration, ''The Odd Day'' (1962), told of the Chinese Communist shelling of the islands of Quemoy and Matsu. Other works by Mr. Copp include ''Incident at Boris Gleb''; ''Overview,'' a history of aerial photography; and ''Famous Soviet Spies.''

Mr. Copp also taught history and civics at St. Luke's School in Wilton, Conn., and worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 4.5 stars. First off, the amount of research and detail in this book is downright astounding to me. The book covers seemingly everything important that took place in the Air Corps from the advent of the plane right up until the start of WWII. I have read another account of the history of Army Aviation, and it was a very dry, tedious reading in which I didn't absorb a whole lot of knowledge. This book, however, was even more detailed, and yet still somehow managed to keep momentum and interest throughout with personal anecdotes and by giving a good sense of who these key players were as men and as officers. Quite honestly, this book left me inspired by these men and what they were able to accomplish in trying circumstances, and it's instilled in me a higher determination to hopefully follow in their footsteps someday. While this book is indeed not meant for everyone, as it does take time and effort to digest, I wholeheartedly recommend it to all Air Force officers, Army Aviation officers, and anyone else with an intense interest in the subject matter.

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

As cited by some other reviewers, this book, in terms of research and attention to detail, offers the reader a comprehensive history of the uphill struggle that took place within the U.S. Army and Congress between the wars to establish an Army Air Corps as an essential and indispensible element in national defense. (This was a struggle not unlike what advocates of the aircraft carrier faced during the same era against the established "battleship minded" senior naval officer ruling class in the U.S. Navy.)

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Likely the most important work on the development of the U.S. Air Force that begins in a pre-WWI fashion. The main story line of this book is walked from the period prior to the First World War, through that war and then into the "inter-war years" and the period of isolation. This was quite a fascinating read and one can certainly appreciate the development of the U.S. Air Force through the pages of this book that conclude just prior to the Second World War.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dense, but fact-filled book that talks about the critical years between World War I and World War II, as the US military sought to evolve airpower from fringe element in the arsenal into a significant part of American warfighting. It is a tale about the lives and actions of the key leaders, from Billy Mitchell and Hap Arnold to emerging officers like Curtis LeMay. As the leaders of the fledgling service, they not only had to prepare to fight the next war, developing tactics and technology, but they also had to fight the political battles for relevance, countering the Navy and those who did not feel the way about Air Power like they did. Of note, the Air Corps was being driving not as much by Generals, although Mitchell, Andrews and Arnold did achieve that rank during the timeframe, but by Majors, Lt Colonels, Captains, and Lieutenants, the lower-level, but no less important, leaders that any military requires for success. Some of the accounts can get bogged down in minutia and technical terminology, but for any military officer, especially in the Air Force, this work is worth the time, probably in the earlier officer ranks.

[Dave Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

DeWitt Copp’s “A Few Great Captains,” WWII pilot, explores the early American efforts to create an Air Force under scrutiny in this 1980 study. Copp wrote more than 30 books, and has written numerous articles about cold war machinations.

Copp explains the development of air power beginning in the WWI era. The author then delves into detail regarding the myopic view that military ‘experts’ held with respect to aviation throughout the twenties and the great depression. Copp’s biographical portraits are excellent; however, his long descriptions of bureaucratic and political intrigue become tedious.

This is an excellent 300 page book; unfortunately, it is nearly 500 pages long. That said, this book is an invaluable asset for researchers and air buffs.

[Cws]

358.4 Cop

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be required reading for all AF officers and SNCO's, period. A great compilation of significant events and people who made the AF what it has become.