The Great Air War

[Bulldog90]

I just found a copy of a book called The Great Air war by Aaron Norman. Its a first edition and it came out in 1968. It seems really great so far. Has anyone else ever read it, or does anyone know anything about the authors background?

Thx,

Bulldog90

[dpolglaze]

Bulldog,

It's a generally well-constructed book. Some have noted its lack of footnotes and listed documentation. Most believe it to be pretty accurate. Here's a link to a review of the book written by James Hudson:

Military History and the First Great Air War

Dan

[rainbase]

I love this book and it's one of the very first hardcovers I owned on the subject.

It was sitting on the shelf in my high school library. I read it over the course of my freshman year during study periods, lunches, etc. At the time it was the thickest book I'd ever seen on the subject; I just KNEW it was important.

As my freshman year was drawing to a close I decided that I had to own it. I could see by the card in the back that it hadn't been checked out in years. It seemed like a travesty to leave it sitting there unloved and unread on the shelf. So I checked it out one day, legally, and a couple weeks later went to the librarian and told her sadly how I'd somehow lost "The Great War In The Air" and would be willing to pay for it (which I did over a few weeks).

I bought a second copy on ebay a few years back, this one even had a dust jacket!

[Maxim08]

Another reason for why you can't find good reference books in many libraries.
You didn't 'save' the book, just removed it from access for many other people.
Disgruntled regards,
John

[rainbase]

Well I didn't say I was proud of what I did, John. I was a 14 year old kid at the time. What I DIDN'T do was steal it; I paid the publisher's price in full at the time. The library might have replaced it but I doubt it: it had generated ZERO demand for several years.

[Barrett]

When I was in college (back when ROTC buildings were being bombed or burned down) some radicals took it upon themselves to indulge in the literary version of ethnic cleansing. They stole military books from the shelves or defaced them to the point of being almost useless. It was equivalent to people who dislike cancer eliminating medical books.

IIRC some libraries removed the "controversial material" from the general circulation shelves while others just eliminated military subjects altogether. In any case, I had a deja-vu moment at Rainbase's mention of history volumes being seldom used. Most of the WW I and II books I read in college hadn't been checked out in months or years--sometimes never.

[Bulldog90]

Thanks everybody. The books not 100% accurate ( what is?), but the author spins compelling history. For the three dollars the book cost me I think I found a gem.

Bulldog 90