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Intro -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Part I. Theories of War -- 1. Busting the Icon: Restoring Balance to the Influence of Clausewitz -- 2. Is War an Instrument of Policy? -- 3. The Mutable Nature of War -- 4. Starting with a Blank Sheet: Principles of War for a New Century -- Part II. War Through the Ages -- 5. Second Fronts: Success, Failure, and Implications -- 6. Decisive Victories and What They Mean -- 7. Time in War -- 8. Jointness and the Norwegian Campaign, 1940 -- Part III. American Military Experiences -- 9. American Military Culture and Its Influence on Strategy -- 10. Soldiers and Politics: Exposing a Myth -- 11. Unity of Command in the Pacific during World War II -- 12. Analysis, Intelligence, and Targeting in Strategic Air Operations -- 13. Determining the Effects of the Allied Air Offensive -- 14. Summation: The Emergence of a Paradigm -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

"The United States has the most expensive and seemingly unstoppable military in the world. Yet, since World War II the nation's military success rate has been meager. The Korean War was a draw, while Vietnam, Mogadishu, Afghanistan, and Iraq were clear losses. Successes include Iraq in 1991, the Balkans (Croatia and Kosovo), Panama, the initial takedowns of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, and Libya. What differentiates the failures from the successes? Failures have been marked by the introduction of large numbers of conventional American ground troops, while successes have been characterized by the use of airpower, special operations forces, robust intelligence and sensor platforms, and the use of indigenous ground troops. Phillip S. Meilinger's new book advocates strategies that limit risks in war as well as achieve measurable goals. Instead of large numbers of conventional ground troops, the author argues in favor of a focus on asymmetric capabilities--a combination of airpower, special operation forces, intelligence, and indigenous ground troops--to achieve the desired political outcomes."--Provided by publisher

The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was formed to deter war against the emerging Soviet threat -and to fight and win a war if deterrence failed. This fascinating history of SAC will weave together six themes shaping the command during its first decade of existence: mission, message, education, technology, intelligence gathering and analysis, and leadership. All of these were crucial but the last is perhaps primus inter pares. General Curtis E. LeMay was the commander of SAC from 1948 to 1957. His leadership and drive were fundamental to the successful evolution of the command.

The issue of strategic bombing's effec- tiveness is vitally important to political and military leaders. U.S. Air Force doc- trine has argued for decades that airpower's ability to operate directly and immediately at the strategic level of war is its unique and defining characteris- tic—a characteristic that must be ex- ploited. Many disagree, so the debates have been long and heated. Gian Gentile, a serving Army officer, now adds to the literature on this important subject. Unfortunately, he never really comes to grips with the key issue of effec- tiveness implied by the title of his book. Rather, he has chosen to replow some old ground, looking anew at the U.S. Strate- gic Bombing Survey (USSBS), chartered by President Franklin Roosevelt to exam- ine and report on the effects of strategic bombing in World War II. Measuring bombing's effectiveness and examining the workings of the USSBS that studied bomb effects are two different things.

AbstractWar Narratives, unit histories, memoirs, and letters home from the combatants offer good accounts, but they cannot always convey the tension, violence, fear, dedication, futility, and chance that are so a part of war and that are more easily drawn by a good novelist. This review article discusses the ten top air war novels involving the U.S. Air Force (or the U.S. Army Air Forces as it was known during World War II) and the wars in Korea and Vietnam. These ten novels most accurately reflect the unique character, culture, and achievements of air power in those Asian wars.