A Few Great Captains: The Men and Events That Shaped the Development of U.S. Air Power

by Dewitt S. Copp

Book Overview

The rickety frame-and-fabric machines of the early 1900s hardly inspired confidence in the potential of military aviation; but between the Wright brothers' demonstration of a "military" aircraft in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385133103
• ISBN13: 9780385133104
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 531 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An incredibly blunt accounting of early military aviation

A "politically incorrect" accounting of the efforts of a few forward thinkers of early military aviation. Brings to life all the hurdles they had to jump in spite of the politicians and anti-aviation military leaders, just to survive and prove the concept. Brings all the military and civil aviation history I have studied for the last 32 years into focus! Sadly, it's not much different this very day !! David A Hatcher, CW4 US Army Retired and a USA Civil Service Aircraft Flight Instructor at Fort Rucker, AL

A revealing study of politics vs. professionalism.

As an Air Force "brat" who grew up with the names and places related in this book, I thoroughly enjoyed discovering the reasons behind the views privately expressed by my officer father and his cohorts regarding certain political personages and the other branches of the service. This book also went a long way toward explaining the seemingly Spartan, but completely functional, aspects of USAF aircraft. And now I know something of the men whose names were given to many of the USAF bases here in the US and abroad. In the Overview of the book, mention was made that this was to be the first of two books; does anyone know the title of the second?

Pretty Good Read about US Army Aviation

Contrary to the other reviewer, this is a pretty good account of the political struggle for US Air Power and the strong personalities that shaped it. I don't get the PC criticism here. It is sort of like complaining that Julius Caesar didn't have enough women in his legions and therefore his Commentaries are lacking because of this. Acutally, women played a bigger role in the rise of flight than in most technologies in the first half of the 20th Century. The folks in this book knew that and supported them

A thorough, revealing overview of the between-war Air Corps.

Dewitt Copp provides us with an in-depth account of the growth of the Air Corps from the era of the Wright brothers to just before the advent of World War II. All the movers and shakers are spotlighted along the way, and the political intrigues they found themselves in are described in detail. As Mr. Copp comes from an older generation, it's easy to forgive his relegation of women to secondary roles, especially since the chauvanism of the time all too often kept them there. I found the book a rewarding read, and would recommend it with enthusiasm to anyone interested in that part of our military history. Because of the scope of the work, the reading at times becomes bogged down in the fine details of events as they transpired. Be prepared to work your way through it