Changing War

Gary Sheffield holds the Chair of War Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. He previously held a personal chair at King's College London, UK, and was Land Warfare Historian on the Higher Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College. He has published widely on military history.Peter Gray is RAeS Senior Research Fellow in Air Power Studies, University of Birmingham, UK.A retired senior officer of the Royal Air Force, he holds a PhD and is the author of The Leadership, Direction and Legitimacy of the RAF Bomber Offensive from Inception to 1945 (Continuum, 2012).

• Series Editor’s IntroductionBiographies of ContributorsIntroduction - Peter Gray, Ross Mahoney and Gary Sheffield1. Command Culture and Complexity: Third Army during the Hundred Days, August-November 1918 - Jonathan Boff2. ‘Delivering the Goods’. Operation Landovery Castle: A Logistical and Administrative Analysis of Canadian Corps Preparations for the Battle of Amiens 8-11 August, 1918 - Rob Thompson3. ‘After Amiens’: Technology and Tactics in the British Expeditionary Force During the Advance to Victory, August – November 1918 - Bryn Hammond4. The Last Battle of the B.E.F: The Crossing of the Sambre-Oise Canal, 4 November 1918 - Niall Barr5. War of Liberation: British Second Army and Coalition Warfare in Flanders in the Hundred Days - Dennis Williams6. Behind the Lines: Sir Douglas Haig and the Cavalry Corps, September-October 1918 - Simon M Justice7. The Air Ministry and the Formation of the Royal Air Force - Peter Gray8. The Smuts Report: Interpreting and Misinterpreting the Promise of Air Power - Christopher Luck9. The Genesis of Modern Warfare: The Contribution of Aviation Logistics - Peter Dye10. The Genesis of Modern Air Power: the RAF in 1918 - David Jordan11. The Battle of Amiens: Air-Ground Cooperation and its Implications for Imperial Policing - Simon Coningham12. The Battle of Amiens and the Development of British Air Land Battle, 1918-1945 - Alistair McCluskeyBibliographyIndex

All of the essays are interesting. Several, however, stand out either for their insights or their subject matter. Among these are those on the logistical preparations for the Battle of Amiens, combined arms operations during the “Hundred Days,” and the influence of air-ground cooperation during the campaign on subsequent British military thought. A volume in the series “Birmingham War Studies,” Changing War is not only important reading for serious students of World War I but also for anyone seriously interested in the development of combined arms operations.