num_pages: 240
description: The first aircraft flew in 1903 and within ten years had been developed into military weapons.From World War I to World War II, pilots became exalted national heroes, gallant knights astride their iron steeds high above the skies of Europe. Far from the heroic fantasy, however, most pilots and aircrews struggled against grim odds, fighting out their frequently short lives with bravado and recklessness. This vivid account explores the conditions in which these pilots fought and the rise of air warfare to preeminence, culminating in the Enola Gay's fateful drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
language: English
title: War in the Air 1914-45
titlecomplete: War in the Air 1914-45 (Smithsonian History of Warfare)
genres: War, World War I, Reference, Nonfiction, Military History, Military Fiction, Aviation, History, World War II
ratings_count: 40
publisher: Harper Paperbacks