The Dream of Civilized Warfare: World War I Flying Aces and the American Imagination (review)

nature of air war and aviation technology between 1914 and 1918, might have prompted Frandsen to avoid the strong implication of linear development entailed in his assertion that these origins of pursuit aviation in 1918 are “the reason that air superiority continues to be first priority for American combat aviation” (p. 273). An organization’s origins set the mold; they do not predetermine its evolution, as the complex history of American airpower amply demonstrates. Finally, this well-researched work would have benefited from a bibliography. These criticisms notwithstanding, Frandsen has written a fine study of the First Pursuit Group’s role in the origins of American fighter aviation in 1918.