Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance in the First World War

The First World War demanded revolutionary technology to break the vicious stalemate in which the armies of Europe found themselves as soon as static warfare became established. In the critical world of military intelligence, aviation assumed a vital role through aerial reconnaissance in reinforcing successful decision-making. The demands of warfare not only spurred aviation’s development, it led to technological advances in aerial photography, radio intercepts, acoustics and optics that became the foundation for intelligence throughout the twentieth century and to the present day. Colonel Terry Finnegan’s Shooting the Front reviews the entire evolution of Allied aerial photography and photographic interpretation during the Great War, in a text packed with data and based upon meticulous research in archives worldwide. The photographs included are both informative and spectacular, charting perforce the early years of aviation itself. Shooting the Front shows not only how important aerial reconnaissance was to the war effort, but also how it became the foundation for modern-day exploitation of imagery and geospatial intelligence used to guide today’s decision makers on global issues, and shaped intelligence work for generations to come.