The Command of the Air

 Author: Giulio Douhet

Published: 1921

Notable quote: "To conquer the command of the air means victory; to be beaten in the air means defeat and acceptance of whatever terms the enemy may be pleased to impose."

The Command of the Air is the greatest treatise on air warfare in the world, written by Giulio Douhet (1869–1930), an Italian air arm theorist and the father of strategic bombing. In the book, Douhet argues that air power plays a revolutionary role in changing the way to win wars of the future, that is, future wars will be won through command of the air rather than through ground and sea battles. To achieve command of the airspace, a country should create an independent and powerful air force that is able to destroy the enemy's air arm and vital centers by bombing. Douhet's command of the air theory has epoch-making significance and became the standards for air force-building in the interwar period. His theory has had great influences on the world's military development.

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