Bombs Away! The World War II Bombing Campaigns over Europeby John R. Bruning
It started with a dream of avoiding the stalemate of the Great War. A generation of idealistic young men thought that glory awaited among the clouds, and strategic bombing, it was theorized, was the solution to attritional warfare. But when war returned and thousands of aircraft darkened the skies, ideals were overwhelmed by the need to defeat the evil of the Nazis. The war of attrition had just shifted to the air, to freezing, flak-filled missions with terrifyingly high casualty rates. Bombs rained down on Europe, sending civilians scurrying for shelter in blacked-out cities—or in broad daylight. Far above them an escalating battle of machines and tactics played out between bombers and fighter planes, their pilots and crews, until in the end the German war machine simply could not keep up.
The first comprehensive illustrated history of military history’s deadliest combat innovations, Bombs Away! covers the massive strategic aerial bombardment in Europe between 1939 and 1945.
From the American (U.S. Army Air Forces) and British (RAF Bomber Command) aerial campaigns against Germany to the German use of strategic bombing during the conquest of Europe and the Battle of Britain, author and military historian John R. Bruning pays tribute to the fighters and bombers and the men who flew and maintained them through hundreds of rare photographs, dozens of them in color, and a detailed text that follows the evolving air war.
Over 450 vivid images provide an unrivaled visual tour through the six years of bombing campaigns and a sobering look at the cities that bore the brunt of this devastating method of combat—from London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, and Coventry to Hamburg, Kassel, Pforzheim, Mainz, Cologne, Bremen, Essen, Düsseldorf, Hanover, Dortmund, Frankfurt, and Berlin.
Over 450 vivid images provide an unrivaled visual tour through the six years of bombing campaigns and a sobering look at the cities that bore the brunt of this devastating method of combat—from London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, and Coventry to Hamburg, Kassel, Pforzheim, Mainz, Cologne, Bremen, Essen, Düsseldorf, Hanover, Dortmund, Frankfurt, and Berlin.
