air space, 1939-1945 / John McCarthy -- World War II : air support for surface forces / Vincent Orange -- World War II : the bombing of Germany / Richard Overy -- "Definite limitations" : the air war in Korea, 1950-1953 / Jeffrey Grey -- The air war in Vietnam / C.D. Coulthard-Clark -- Air power as a national instrumeent : the Arab-Israeli wars / R.A. Mason -- "It was a bit of a close call" : some thoughts on the South Atlantic war / R.G. Funnell -- Air power in peripheral conflict / Dennis M. Drew -- Soviet air power in the new Russian mirror / Benjamin S. Lambeth -- Air operations in the Gulf War / Patrick Hine -- New era warfare / Charles A. Horner -- The future of air power / Richard P. Hallion.

This book contains the proceedings of a conference held by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Canberra in 1994. Since its publication by the RAAF Air Power Studies Centre in that year, the book has become a widely used reference at universities, military academies, and other educational institutions around the world. This American edition is a somewhat shortened version with minor editorial changes. The contributors discuss the evolution of airpower from World War I to the near future. Essay subjects include World War I; doctrinal development in the interwar period; strategic bombing and support of surface forces in World War II; and airpower in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Arab-Israeli Wars, Falklands War, and Persian Gulf War; plus coverage of airpower in such peripheral conflicts as Operation El Dorado Canyon, the Malayan Emergency, and the Israeli raid on the Osirak nuclear reactor.