Command of the Air

“The Italian General Giulio Douhet reigns as one of the twentieth century’s foremost strategic air power theorists. Along with William ‘Billy’ Mitchell, Douhet understood that the technological advances in weaponry made during World War I were not fully utilized by Allied commanders. Douhet thus spent the decade after the war constructing a theory that would facilitate the strategic use of what he conceived to be the biggest technological breakthrough of all, the airplane. As such scholars as Raymond Flugel have pointed out, Douhet’s theories were crucial at a pivotal pre-World War II Army Air Force institution, the AirCorps Tactical School.” — Michael J. Eula, Air University Review“Giulio Douhet’s The Command of the Air is a military classic. It was the first detailed analysis of the offensive and defensive employment of the air weapon. Published in 1921, The Command of the Air asserted the decisiveness of strategic bombardment before Billy Mitchell and other air leaders had given that subject any detailed thought. The 1927 edition . . . contains Douhet’s fully developed thesis on how to use the air weapon to achieve victory. Subsequently translated into English, French, German, and Russian, it stimulated the thinking of aviators in various countries prior to World War II.” — Col. John F. Shiner, Air University Review