Aerial Warfare

C2a. Very Good. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Published by John Lane, The Bodley Head, London, UK. 1909. Xxxix, 237 pages. Illustrated with a frontispiece and 57 illustrations. First Edition/First Printing. Bound in illustrated blue cloth boards with titles present to the spine and Zeppelin illustation on the front board. Boards have shelf-wear present to the extremities (board corners are lightly bumped and worn). No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. A fascinating look at the quick development of aeronautics at the turn of the twentieth century. This work discusses the possible use of aeroplanes and other flying machines in warfare. Manned kits and hot air balloons had been used in a limited fashion previously for military purposes, but mostly for reconnaissance. Zeppelins or dirigibles were first developed in the 1890's. The Wright Brothers first powered aeroplane successfully flew in 1903. Only six years later this book was published on the use of aircraft for purposes of war. It did end up becoming a reality only a few years later though; first in 1911 in the Italo-Turkish War with Italian Army, then just a little later in World War I. This was the first work on aerial warfare to be published for the public, other works before this having been limited to the military. Written by R. P. Hearne, who also wrote 'Zeppelins and Super-Zeppelins', and was a motoring journalist. With an introduction by Hiram Maxim, an inventor who is best known for his creation of the first portable automatic machine gun. Hearne put out a second expanded edition of this book in 1910 titled "Airships in Peace and War," but his first edition is much more difficult to find. EB; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .