Giant bombers and the war in the air around the world

The fifth volume of this substantial and definitive history of air warfare during the First World War, as seen from the British and Imperial perspective, principally concerns the lesser theatres of this global conflict far from the trenches, mud and wire of the Western Front in Europe. The first section, however, covers the air war closer to home as the Germans continued their haphazard bombing-raids on the British Isles. Although Zeppelin raids persisted, by this point in the conflict the Germans had developed and operationally introduced the giant Gotha bombers and the activities of these raiders together with the efforts of the fighter pilots of the RFC to bring them down make fascinating reading. The war was also being fought against Germany’s ally, Ottoman Turkey in the Middle East. In this volume the contribution of aircraft in the Palestine Campaign, in the Sudan (particularly in the Darfur region), in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and in the Balkans– particularly concerning the Macedonian Campaign–is described in detail. These ‘side-show theatres’ of the First World War are perennially of interest to students of the wider conflict and Jones’ extraordinarily thorough research has rarely been surpassed for its accuracy and detail which is enhanced by many anecdotes about and from combatants on both sides of the conflict.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.