000			03504cam a2200421 i 4500
001			on1005102361
003			OCoLC
005			20180812224209.0
008			180305t20182018nyuaf b 001 0 eng
010			_a 2018009312
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dOCLCO _dNLGGC _dJTH _dUOK _dFM0 _dYDX _dOCLCO _dCGL _dQQ3 _dIEB _dOCLCF _dXRQ _dNFG
019			_a1032640232
020			_a9780393652291 _qhardcover
020			_a0393652297 _qhardcover
035			_a(OCoLC)1005102361 _z(OCoLC)1032640232
042			_apcc
043			_ae-uk---
092			_a940.4494 _bO96
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aOvery, Richard, _eauthor. _9363848
240	1	0	_aBirth of the RAF, 1918.
245	1	0	_aRAF : _bthe birth of the world's first air force / _cRichard Overy.
246	3	0	_aRoyal Air Force, the birth of the world's first air force
250			_aFirst American edition.
264		1	_aNew York : _bW.W. Norton & Company, _c2018.
264		4	_c©2018
300			_ax, 149 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : _billustrations ; _c22 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
500			_aOriginally published: The birth of the RAF, 1918 : the world's first air force. London : Penguin Books, 2018.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505	0		_aBritain and the war in the air -- Battles in the sky, battles in Whitehall -- April Fools' Day 1918 -- "A very grueling business": saving the RAF.
520			_a"The birth of the Royal Air Force during World War I marked a pivotal moment in modern military and political history. With Europe's western front frozen in a bloody stalemate of trench warfare, both sides sought some means of directly attacking enemy resources and morale. The new technologies of air power were used at first for reconnaissance of enemy positions for artillery strikes. By 1917 German bombers had begun raids on British cities, including an attack on London that killed hundreds, with eighteen schoolchildren among the casualties. Public outrage in Britain sparked a call for air defense and spurred political support for an independent air ministry. Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his minister of munitions, Winston Churchill, led the debates over how to shape Britain's air power during the war. The immediate path to an independent RAF is a fascinating story of political, bureaucratic, and personal rivalries. By the end of World War I, the RAF was launching effective bombing campaigns on industrial and military targets in western Germany. It survived postwar retrenchment thanks largely to Churchill, who as colonial secretary gave the RAF special responsibility for enforcing imperial control in the Middle East, especially in the new League of Nations mandates of Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq. The RAF helped to shape the way air power developed not just in Britain but notably in Germany and the United States. The massive bombing campaigns of World War II against civilian and industrial targets in major cities are rooted in this history. This compact book shows a master historian at work. In command of the archival sources, at home in all dimensions of the story, Richard Overy crafts an engrossing narrative of this turning point in our history."--Provided by publisher.
610	1	0	_aGreat Britain. _bRoyal Air Force _xHistory _y20th century. _9365237
650		0	_aWorld War, 1914-1918 _xAerial operations, British. _9365238
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c277585 _d277585