Overview

Strategic bombing is likely the most studied element in Aviation History. The shelves of libraries are filled with books on the topic, yet relatively little is known about where the concept originated or how it evolved. Most of the books on strategic bombing fall into three categories: descriptions of bombing campaigns, critiquing whether they succeeded, or describing why different nations pursued individual visions of airpower. While these are important analyses, there is no one complete study of the idea behind America's vision of strategy bombing that answers: how it originated, why it changed over time, the factors that shaped change, and how technology molded military doctrine? This book provides just such a full spectrum intellectual history of the American concept of strategic bombing. In the minds of forward thinking aerial theorists the new technology of the airplane removed the limitations of geography, defenses, and operational reach that had restricted ground and naval forces since the dawn of human conflict. With aviation, a nation could avoid costly traditional military campaigns and attack the industrial heart of an enemy using long-range bombers. Yet, the acceptance of strategic bombing doctrine proved a hard-fought process. The story of strategic bombing is not that of any one person or any one causal factor. Instead, it is a twisting tale of individual efforts, organizational infighting, political priorities, and most important technological integration. At no point was strategic bombing preordained or destined to succeed. In every era, the theory had to survive critical challenges. By tracing the complex interrelationships of these four causal factors, this book provides a greater understanding of the origins and rise to dominance of American strategic bombing theory. The Origins of American Strategic Bombing meets this need in two ways. First, it explains the intellectual process of going from Wright Flyers to B-17 formations over Germany. Next, it identifies the factors that shaped that intellectual development. In doing so, it challenges the Air Force's self-identity with a much more complex explanation. It is no longer the story of Billy Mitchell or The Bomber Mafia, but one of a complicated interweaving of events, people, organizational cultures, technology, and politics. The book is unique as it integrates military, political, cultural, and technological history to explain the rise of strategic bombing as the dominant American vision of airpower as it entered World War II.

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9781682472521

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�Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory.�- Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets� Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I �In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris�s book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power.�- William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory. - Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets' Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris's book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power. - William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation

The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory is clear and well-sourced and can be easily approached by anyone with no depth of knowledge of the central subject matter. This reader found it to be enjoyable and informative, providing a good account of early strategic bombing theory and American air power development. While being a self-contained work, it is likely to whet the reader's appetite for reading works covering related subject matters. --From Balloons to Drones Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory. - Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets' Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris's book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power. - William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation

Recommended as a concise study into the development of American bombing theory for the general reader. --Aeropsace All students and researchers of strategic bombing should at the very least be aware of this important study. Simply put, this is the best book we have on the subject of the development of the American Strategic bombing theory. --The Journal of Military History This book is a well-researched, well-written description and assessment of how America's strategic bombing theory was developed and implemented.... For the reader who wants a comprehensive analysis of the subject, Morris' book would be an excellent addition to the bookshelf. --The Free Library The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory is clear and well-sourced and can be easily approached by anyone with no depth of knowledge of the central subject matter. This reader found it to be enjoyable and informative, providing a good account of early strategic bombing theory and American air power development. While being a self-contained work, it is likely to whet the reader's appetite for reading works covering related subject matters. --From Balloons to Drones Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory. - Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets' Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris's book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power. - William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation

This book is a well-researched, well-written description and assessment of how America's strategic bombing theory was developed and implemented.... For the reader who wants a comprehensive analysis of the subject, Morris' book would be an excellent addition to the bookshelf. --The Free Library The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory is clear and well-sourced and can be easily approached by anyone with no depth of knowledge of the central subject matter. This reader found it to be enjoyable and informative, providing a good account of early strategic bombing theory and American air power development. While being a self-contained work, it is likely to whet the reader's appetite for reading works covering related subject matters. --From Balloons to Drones Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory. - Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets' Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris's book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power. - William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation

Taking a more detailed and broader look than other studies and challenging the traditional idea of a linear progression, this book describes the history of the American concept of strategic bombing and how outside factors like political pressures, economic stressed, and organizational conflicts impacted it during its evolution in World War I... - ProtoView The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory is clear and well-sourced and can be easily approached by anyone with no depth of knowledge of the central subject matter. This reader found it to be enjoyable and informative, providing a good account of early strategic bombing theory and American air power development. While being a self-contained work, it is likely to whet the reader's appetite for reading works covering related subject matters. - From Balloons to Drones

The Origins of American Strategic Bombing Theory is clear and well-sourced and can be easily approached by anyone with no depth of knowledge of the central subject matter. This reader found it to be enjoyable and informative, providing a good account of early strategic bombing theory and American air power development. While being a self-contained work, it is likely to whet the reader's appetite for reading works covering related subject matters. --From Balloons to Drones �Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory.�- Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets� Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I �In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris�s book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power.�- William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation Craig Morris has looked beyond the accepted narrative of the beginnings of the U.S. Air Forces love affair with strategic bombing to provide a well-balanced, thoughtful analysis that led the Air Corps (predecessor to the U.S. Air Force) to advocate the development and offensive use of the long-range heavy bomber. It is an important work that accurately documents the origins and development of American strategic bombing theory. - Thomas Wildenberg, author of Striking the Hornets' Nest: Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I In this concise and analytical study, Craig Morris reveals the social, economic, political, and technological elements that coalesced into the reality of strategic bombing during the interwar years. Neither foreordained nor inevitable, this transformation in air warfare was more contingent and iterative than previous historians have articulated. Morris's book is essential reading for everyone interested in the history of air power. - William F. Trimble, author of Hero of the Air: Glenn Curtiss and the Birth of Naval Aviation

Author Information

Lt. Col. Craig F. Morris is an Assistant Professor of History at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he teaches courses on World History, Aviation History, Military History, and the History of Technology. He is a 25-year veteran of the U. S. Air Force with assignments in intelligence and air campaign planning.

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