Rarely does a book reorient one's thinking on a subject of long-standing familiarity. But this one did for me. I have been an avid reader of WWII history since I was a boy. My dad fought in the war and spoke of it often. By 10 years of age I had already read every book in my elementary school library about the subject, and I continued well into adulthood. Battles, strategy and tactics, generals and weaponry have all been part of my reading. This work has thrown all of that history into a new light. With a copious use of numbers and charts the author makes the argument that new technology, primarily air power, transformed the nature of war as it had been understood. The great land battles that had, up until then, been the decisive events of most wars were no longer the crucial events that determined the victor. Whoever controlled the air not only controlled the battlefield but all of the means for even waging war. A remarkable work that I highly recommend. ( )

A great analysis of high-level strategies and concepts that shaped the course and outcome of WW2. ( )