Alexander P. De Seversky (1894–1974)

1942 non-fiction book made into a 1943 Walt Disney animated feature film of the same name. Seversky advocated the formation of an independent air force, the development of long-range bombers (meaning an intercontinental range of 3,000 miles or more) and a commitment to strategic use of air power (as opposed to its then-traditional use as cover or support for ground-based operations). His plans implicitly involved diversion of resources away from current war operations.
Seversky explained his show more theories of aviation and long-range bombing as influenced by General Billy Mitchell. Seversky argued that:
1. "The rapid expansion of the range and striking power of military aviation makes it certain that the United States will be as exposed to destruction from the air, within a predictable period, as are the British Isles today;"
2. Those who deny this possibility are exhibiting something like a "Maginot line mentality";
3. The U.S. must begin preparing immediately for "an interhemispheric war direct across oceans;"
4. The U.S. must become the dominant air-power nation, "even as England in its prime was the dominant sea-power nation of the world." show less

Air Power Strategy,
The principal thesis of this book is survival by having superiority in long range aircraft capable of destroying an enemies capability of waging war at its source. The author, russian born, went to the US after the first world war and later founded his own aircraft company. In the years that followed he designed built and flew many outstanding aircraft including the P.47 Thunderbolt. CHAPTERS: Prologue: the lesson of Korea -- I. Crisis in national security -- II. Peace show more through air power -- III. How Russia got all the marbles -- IV. Our own Maginot Line -- V. Overseas bases are untenable -- VI. The myth of the aircraft carrier -- VII. The end of sea power -- VIII. The ordeal of naval aviation -- IX. Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- X. Atomic hysteria and common sense -- XI. Defense in the atomic age -- XII. The fallacy of killing people -- XIII. The bombing of Germany -- XIV. America's strategic position -- XV. The war of the hemispheres -- XVI. Air battle -- XVII. On rearming Europe -- XVIII. The importance of South America -- XIX. Our military establishment -- XX. America invincible — show less