The Avro Lancaster was one of the finest bombers of World War II and became the spearhead of the RAF's strategic bombing campaign over the Third Reich. Richard Marks draws on extensive research and detailed technical drawings to explore the evolution of this heavy bomber, revealing how its design developments transformed an old airframe from a dangerous liability to one of the most powerful weapons in the RAF arsenal. The lifespan of the Lancaster began with the troublesome Avro Manchester design, an aircraft that had promised much but proved hazardous to crews. The 'Lanc' retained the...

Originally designed as a carrier-born, long-range interceptor armed with radar-guided missiles and tasked with defense against missile-launching bombers, the Phantom II went on to establish itself as one of the most important multirole fighter, attack and reconnaissance aircraft of the twentieth century. Going on to play an important role in the war in Vietnam as a workhorse, in addition to the MiG interceptor, the Phantom was a mainstay of Atlantic Fleet operations, intercepting Soviet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft and turning them away from the carrier groups at the height of the...

In 1942, the massive Japanese naval base and airfield at Rabaul was a fortress standing in the Allies' path to Tokyo. It was impossible to seize Rabaul, or starve the 100,000-strong garrison out. Instead the US began an innovative, hard-fought two-year air campaign to draw its teeth, and allow them to bypass the island completely.

The struggle decided more than the fate of Rabaul. If successful, the Allies would demonstrate a new form of warfare, where air power, with a judicious use of naval and land forces, would eliminate the need to occupy a ground objective in order to control...

The TSR2 is one of the greatest "what-if" aircraft of the Cold War, whose cancellation still generates anger and controversy among aviation fans. It was a magnificent, cutting-edge aircraft, one of the most striking of the Cold War, but fell victim to cost overruns, overambitious requirements, and politics. Its scrapping marked the point when Britain's aerospace industry could no longer build world-class aircraft independently. After the demise of TSR2 the RAF's future jets would be modified US aircraft like the Phantom and pan-European collaborations like Tornado and Typhoon.

In...

The bombing campaign that was meant to keep South Vietnam secure, Rolling Thunder became a byword for pointless, ineffective brutality, and was a key factor in America's Vietnam defeat. But in its failures, Rolling Thunder was one of the most influential air campaigns of the Cold War. It spurred a renaissance in US air power and the development of an excellent new generation of US combat aircraft, and it was still closely studied by the planners of the devastatingly successful Gulf War air campaign.

Dr Richard P. Hallion, a vastly knowledgeable air power expert at the...