Close air support--attacking targets on the ground with guns, bombs, and rockets, usually at very low altitudes--is the forgotten branch of combat aviation. There are hundreds of books about high-altitude bombers, fighters, and naval strike aircraft . . . but only a handful about ground attack. This is by far the best of that handful: A comprehensive, all-nations history of the rise of close air support doctrine and the development of airplanes to carry it out. The German blitzkrieg and the Allied domination of French airspace after D-Day both receive due attention, but so do lesser-known topics like World War I trench strafing, the development of air-ground coordination by the U. S. Marines in the "Banana Wars" of the 1930s, and the spectacular successes of Soviet pilots against German armored forces on the Eastern Front. This is essential reading for any serious student of air power . . . we can only hope that Hallion (or somebody) gets around to a sequel covering 1946-now. ( )