Camera Aloft

Von Hardesty, a former curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, has written widely on aerospace history, including a biography of Charles Lindbergh, numerous titles on Russian aeronautics, a history of the space race, and baseline research on aerial reconnaissance in World War I.

• Foreword: taking the camera aloft; 1. War and exile; 2. A new life in the military; 3. Over there; 4. The world of air observation; 5. Taking charge; 6. Over the front; 7. War and photography; Appendix: life at the cutting edge: the photo sections.

'Dr Von Hardesty has written a thoughtful, elegant, and compelling account of an almost unknown chapter in the life of one of America's most famous twentieth-century artists. His treatment of Edward Steichen's service in World War I is full of surprises that will illuminate the work of art historians, military historians, and cultural historians. This is a pioneering work … It is a wonderfully appealing subject, deftly and smoothly realized by a master craftsman.' Michael Gorn, Research Associate, Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum