mid-70s British popular history book about the bomber. As might be expected, it focuses almost entirely on Bomber Command and the Nazis in WW2, with some decent background on the development of specialized bombers during WW1. Clark argues that the strategic bomber as a unitary war-winning force never really had an honest chance to prove itself, with both the Luftwaffe and the Allies diverted away from the "strategic" objective of leveling enemy cities to tactical missions like smashing rail-lines in France prior to Operation Overlord. Even so, low accuracy and high attrition rates meant that the pre-nuclear strategic bomber doctrine of Douhet and Mitchell might not have been workable, given the psychological resilience of civilians. Carriers in the Pacific get a mention, along with the weakness of airpower in Korea and Vietnam, but this book misses important and interesting stuff about tactical and nuclear bomber missions. Lots of photos, the best of which are borrowed from Nazi propaganda, and lots more blurry messes.

I'd have really enjoyed this book when I was 12, but it hasn't aged well.