War is hell…..This is even more so with the technology build up in the post World War I period that brought new challenges to allied military leaders and a tremendous dichotomy in United States aviation warfare strategy of World War II. Both in Fire and Fury by Randall Hansen, and Herman Wolk’s Cataclysm: General Hap Arnold and the Defeat of Japan, follow key allied leaders and their bombing strategies.
In Fire and Fury, Hansen asserts that the American daylight precision bombing was more humane and inline “of a perfect synthesis of American attributes: a belief in the importance of morality in politics, optimism, and a commitment to the technological pioneering.”(p. 40) The author presents the British air strategy, under the leadership of Air Marshal Harris, using area night-time bombing that had a tremendous toll directly on German civilians, the city centers, and residential areas. Hansen proclaims that area bombing not only failed to win the war, it probably prolonged it.(p. 281) …show more content…
Wolk presents General Hap Arnold’s efforts in the development of the B-29 - the first pressurized long range bomber - as the technology solution to end the war with Japan. In the middle chapters, the author describes Arnold’s relationship with President Roosevelt and key cabinet leaders, along with dismissal of several bomber commanders that would not follow his directives. Through Arnold’s character of impatience and perseverance, he ultimately becomes the key player in the air campaign’s
In Fire and Fury, Hansen asserts that the American daylight precision bombing was more humane and inline “of a perfect synthesis of American attributes: a belief in the importance of morality in politics, optimism, and a commitment to the technological pioneering.”(p. 40) The author presents the British air strategy, under the leadership of Air Marshal Harris, using area night-time bombing that had a tremendous toll directly on German civilians, the city centers, and residential areas. Hansen proclaims that area bombing not only failed to win the war, it probably prolonged it.(p. 281) …show more content…
Wolk presents General Hap Arnold’s efforts in the development of the B-29 - the first pressurized long range bomber - as the technology solution to end the war with Japan. In the middle chapters, the author describes Arnold’s relationship with President Roosevelt and key cabinet leaders, along with dismissal of several bomber commanders that would not follow his directives. Through Arnold’s character of impatience and perseverance, he ultimately becomes the key player in the air campaign’s