Scholars Books & Nostalgic Picture Library

Antiquarian and Modern

Listed within my shop is a small proportion of what is held within this private business

A eclectic mixture of books. Listed below is a selection of what is available from a large collection of books, postcards, photographs and ephemera

Enquiries Welcome

AVIATION/PLANES/AIRCRAFT/MILITARY AIRCRAFT /WORLD WAR  ONE & TWO/INTEREST

THE FIRST AIR CAMPAIGN

by

LAWSON

PUBLISHED ; COMBINED BOOKS

 1st EDITION c 1996

  The skies over Europe during World War I saw  a uniquely modem contest for tactical and  technological supremacy. Each new strategy or  invention by the Allies or Central Powers  quickly brought a deadly response from the  other. Each innovation was tested in the air by  combat pilots who were gambling with their  lives. At times with a life expectancy of only 21  flying days, the pilots became the most enduring legend of the war.  Eric and Jane Lawson present a unique  treatment of the air actions of World War I as a  single grand campaign, with the balance of  power shifting back and forth with each new  weapon or tactic.  World War I broke out in August 1914, only  11 years after the Wright brothers’ first airplane  flight. The warring nations assembled makeshift  air forces of civilian aircraft flown by amateur  pilots, largely for reconnaissance purposes.  By the end of 1915 haphazard observation,  hand-dropped bombs, and pilots occasionally  shooting at each other with carbines had begun  to give way to specialized air squadrons,  specially designed aircraft, bomb racks, aerial  cameras and mounted machine guns.  By war’s end long-range bombing, rudimentary aircraft carriers, rocket- and cannon-armed  planes, radios, ground-attack tactics, and other  features of modern warfare had made an appearance.  Eric and Jane Lawson maintain a focus on  the human dimension of the conflict. The most        important commanders and pilots are examined,   as well as ground-breaking coverage of the first  African-American combat pilot, the first women  to fly military missions, and Fiorello  LaGuardia’s days as an Italian bombardier.  Billy Mitchell’s image as an advocate of air  power is balanced with a detailed account of his  role in the St. Mihiel offensive, in which he  assembled the war’s largest air armada, made up  of American, British, French, and even Italian  aircraft.  The First Air Campaign features a fast-  paced narrative supplemented by detailed  information on unit organization and aircraft  performance and innovative new maps illustrat-  ing the first attempts to apply the principles of  war to aerial manoeuvre. Also included are  unique war-time photographs, some not seen in  75 years, and specially-prepared charts, available nowhere else, graphically portraying the  ever-changing balance of air power throughout  the war. '