Review

General Books

There have been a large number of books written on air power; John Buckley has used many of them as sources for his book Air Power in the Age of Total War. Buckley, a lecturer in the Department of History and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton in England, tries to view air power in a broad perspective. The core of his analysis is the concept of "total war" which he defines, with reference to the work of Arthur Marwick, as involving not only mass destruction affecting non-combatants as well as military forces, but also the complete mobilization of a society's economic, technological, and psychological resources. Air power relates to total war, first, by being a "clear and direct cause" of total war. Second, air power has been an "indirect measure" of total war since it required more of a country's economic and technological resources than any other kind of military power. As warfare evolved in the twentieth century, military success has increasingly required the use of air power and only those nations with the highest degree of industrial and technological development have been successful.	1
Buckley obviously intends his book for classroom use. This he demonstrates and enables by the explicit nature of the book's organization. Each chapter has an introductory section with an overview of the material in the chapter. He follows this with several separately titled sections, and ends with a section specifically titled "Conclusions." This highly structured organization is also present in the overall organization of the book. After an introductory chapter (having the same title as the book itself), Buckley follows a chronological framework. Chapter two summarizes early aviation development from the first use of balloons in military encounters up to World War I. Chapter three describes the use of air power during the "Great War," an important formative stage for the development of air power. The next two chapters are devoted to the interwar period (1918-1939), discussing the theories and doctrines of air power as well as the major air forces themselves. The following two chapters focus on World War II, which Buckley considers the "epitome of total war." The first of these, the longest chapter in the book, describes the air war in Europe. Chapter seven deals with the Far East (1937-1945) and argues that air power was particularly decisive in the outcome in this facet of the global war. Chapter eight analyzes the role which air power has played since World War II and the last brief chapter titled "Conclusions" summarizes Buckley's overall argument.	2
Instructors using this book will probably be most interested in the overall approach of the book. Although Buckley often qualifies his conclusions with words like "perhaps" and "arguably," he does sprinkle his work with judgments that could be subject of class discussions. For instance, he rejects the idea of World War I air chivalry, and argues that the contributions of Guilio Douhet and Billy Mitchell as air power theorists during the interwar period has been exaggerated and misinterpreted. He tells us that the German air force was not solely committed to support of ground forces despite the early record of the blitzkrieg campaigns. Although Buckley is very aware of the ethical debate involved, he defends the role of strategic bombing during World War II in contributing to the final outcome of the war. In fact, he is very convincing in arguing that the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan should be put in the context of earlier decisions on strategic bombing such as the firebombing attacks on Dresden and Tokyo. One of his most interesting arguments is that the level of resource commitment required by air power in the contemporary world has now rendered total war highly unlikely, if not impossible. Air power, especially in the form of strategic bombing by major powers, has largely become irrelevant.	3
I would agree with the publishers that this book is very useful for students of war studies, defense, and strategic studies, especially at the upper-division and graduate level. Considering the nature of the book, it probably would not be as usable in classes in world history, despite the implications of the concept of total war among the industrial powers. Traditionally, the study of war and industry has been a masculine subject; as we enter the twenty-first century, we know that we need a broader perspective.	4
California State University, Fullerton   Nelson E. Woodard

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