The Way of the Air

The dawn of combat in the airToday everyone is so familiar with aircraft, air travel and the fact that virtually every nation’s defence force includes an aerial component, so it is easy to forget that there are many people still alive whose parents were born before any practical form of working aircraft. The Wright Brothers had achieved sustained heavier than air flight in 1903-just over 100 years ago; that was only eleven years before the outbreak of the First World War, the first war in which combat took to the the skies. During the four years of the conflict the potential for aircraft in all their various forms and in all their viable tactical roles was pursued and exploited as much as the technology of the time would allow. This change in the nature of warfare (which added the first new dimension to conflict in millennia) was seen as incredible to many at the time. Certainly the impetus given to the development of powered flight by the First World War cannot be overestimated. A number of books were written during those early days of air warfare, though their number remains comparatively few, some were written by aviators themselves and some were general or unit histories. Others gathered incidents, experiences and anecdotes into anthologies which enabled an eager readership to understand what combat in the skies actually involved. This is one of those books. It covers pilot training and includes, among other things, accounts of aerial warfare from the allied perspective including night flights, bombing, Zeppelin hunting, raids, dog fights and sea-plane activity. ’The Way of the Air’ concludes with an interesting hypothesis of how manned flight could have developed in the post-war period. This interesting First World War ’reader’ will be a welcome addition to the libraries of all those interested in the early days of aerial warfare.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.