Destined for Glory: Dive Bombing, Midway, and the Evolution of Carrier Airpower
Destined for Glory is the first book to  thoroughly document the development of carrier air power in  the United States Navy during the interwar years.  Aviation  enthusiasts and naval historians alike will find a wealth of  previously unpublished data on the development of carrier  aircraft and their tactical doctrine.  Readers will discover  new material related to the evolution of the fighters,  torpedo bombers, and scout planes that made up the carrier  air groups in World War II.Although several excellent books have been written about the  Battle of Midway, none has focused on how the U.S. Navy came  to develop the one aerial weapon*dive bombing*which proved  to be the decisive instrument of victory.  For it was dive  bombing, and only dive bombing, that turned the tide of  Japanese expansion in the Pacific.Introduced and developed in the interwar years, dive bombing  became the corner stone in the navy's efforts to secure  command of the air.  Although the development of the dive  bomber played an extremely important role in the advance of  naval aviation during the interwar period, it is only part  of a much broader story that illustrates an important lesson  for historians: what comes before the battle is as important  as the battle itself.  It will become evident from reading  the text that the aerial successes of 1942 were  unequivocally rooted in the tactics and equipment developed  during the previous seventeen years.