Aircraft of World War I

Hamilton, John. Aircraft of World War I. 2003. 32p. ISBN 1577659120. Available at 940.4 HAM on the library shelves.

World War I, also known as the Great War, was the largest conflict ever fought. Millions of combatants fought in trenches on the Western Front, while advances in chemical warfare, tanks, and ships increased the deadliness of weapons. The most spectacular advance of the war, however, was the development of the airplane as a machine designed for scouting, to defend other planes, and to drop bombs on ground targets.

Invented a little more than ten years before the beginning of the war, aircrafts were an afterthought in military planners’ minds. But as progress on the battlefield led to stalemate and trench warfare, the freedom to maneuver in three dimensions became more important both for reconnaissance and for destroying reinforced targets from above.

This book describes the evolution of aircrafts from small unarmed engines where pilots fired shotguns at each other, to the evolution of machine guns that fired through the propellers. Famous aircrafts are profiled, and several ace pilots are presented, including the infamous Red Baron.

Fans of the First World War and of the early days of aviation will enjoy this short book.