This is the oft quoted, seldom seen classic work of Giulio Douhet, long out of print in English. "In the pantheon of air power theorists, Giulio Douhet holds center stage." - Richard P. Hallion, The Air Force Historian. "Douhet reigns as one of the twentieth century's foremost strategic air power theorists. Along with William "Billy" Mitchell, Douhet understood that the technological advances in weaponry made during World War I were not fully utilized by Allied commanders. Douhet thus spent the decade after the war constructing a theory that would facilitate the strategic use of what he conceived to be the biggest technological breakthrough of all, the airplane. [...] Over time, [his] theories became institutionalized to the point that they were rarely questioned. Their influence was subsequently evident in strategic Air Force operations." - Air University Review, 1986
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Cited more than quoted, quoted more than read:
I recently read Benjamin Lambeth's Air Power Against Terror, a study of the first seven or eight months after 9/11, with emphasis of the ousting of the Taliban and other air operations in Afghanistan. All the thoughts and theories that I had always heard credited to Guilio Douhet seemed to be vindicated by the success of the operations in Afghanistan. Then it dawned on me, I had only taken other people's word for what Douhet had said and meant. This is easily fixed. In addition to the Air University's... more info
Douhet's Command of the Air:
This book truly shows the beginnings of Air Power theories. This book was written in an attempt to talk the Italian government into using Airpower as a new weapon. Douhet initially failed in this venture, but the Italians later realized their mistake. While the views and opinions of Douhet are at times extremely different from airpower today, and may seem a little ridiculous, this is certainly excellent reading for those who wish to begin learning about the origins of airpower theory.
