On Air Defense

By James D. Crabtree

Book Overview

This book is a study of all aspects of air defense from its beginnings during the French Revolution when artillery gunners tried to hit primitive balloons with their cannons to the use of Patriot missiles in the Gulf War to shoot down tactical ballistic missiles. Crabtree's history focuses on the development of tactics and technology from the Franco-Prussian War to the present. The strategic air defense of World War I and World War II are featured, as are the development of surface-to-air missiles by Germany in World War II and by the United States and the USSR in Vietnam and the Middle East.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0275949397
• ISBN13: 9780275949396
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: Praeger
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The best book about air defense that I ever read

I read this very good book, here in Brazil.This book has this table of contents: Illustrations vii Acnowledgments ix 1- Early air defesense> 1. <br />2-World War I Air defense:The Central Powers>11. <br />3-World War I Air Defense:The Allies >21. <br />4-Developments during the interwarperiod>37. <br />5-England:From The Battle of Britain to Nato>53. <br />6-Germany:Air Defense in Festung Europa>71. <br />7-Japan:Defeat throught Airpower>87. <br />8-Soviet Union:Strela,Shilka, and Volga >101. <br />9-United States:Kike, Hawk, and Patriot > 115. <br />10-Vietnam:people's Air Defense>131. <br />11-Middle East:Conflict in Holy Skies>147. <br />12-Persian Gulf:Aerospace Defense Artillery>161. <br />13-The Future of Air Defense>179. <br />Glossary >187. <br />Selected Bibliography>203. <br />Index > 211. <br />Photographs followpage 114. <br /> <br />This book has some failures.To exemple, on page 176, this book writes:"Iraq achieved all its aerial kills with ground-based anti-aircraft weapons." <br />Well, in fact, Iraq fighters downed just one Coalition plane;in fact, an american F/A-18 hornet. <br />About defense gainst ballistic missiles, this book is just regular. <br />Even with small failures such as these, I must give five stars for this book, because: <br />1-Another reviewer was very unfair, giving one star, for this very good bood.I'm a brazilian and I must be, just with anyone. <br />2-I gave three stars for the book Anti-Aircraft Artillery, writen by Ian Hogg.This book is far better, than Hogg's book. <br />3-This book is, the best book about air defense that I ever read. <br />

The definitive history

Complete with the authors' own illustrations, this is THE book to own about air defense artillery if only buying one. The author seems to make the subject his life, and it shows. Thorough and complete.