In the last year we’ve been pondering what new avenues of aviation history Osprey can explore. For more than 20 years Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Duel have taken us though the world of pilots, units, and one-on-one air combat. They’ve been a fantastic success, covering all the major conflicts in the sky. Aviation Elite Units and Air Vanguard have added to their scope. And last month the first of the brilliant new X-Planes series went on sale, looking at hi-tech prototypes and the world of experimental flight.
But that all leaves a big part of the story of combat aviation untold. Although we’ve produced the occasional Campaign that covers an air operation – Pointblank, the Doolittle Raid, Pearl Harbor – we’ve not systematically studied how air power has been used in the wars of the last century.
This is the idea behind Air Campaign – our new series for 2017. Whereas Duel tries to give a pilot’s-eye account of aerial combat, Air Campaign aims to explain the bigger picture – the commanders’-eye view of air war. What strategic goals was the campaign meant to achieve? What were the available aircraft, weapons and pilots capable of? What kind of opposition would they face? What plan did the attacking air force form and what tactics could they employ? Then: how was the campaign fought, how did the defenders respond, and looking back on it, what could or should have been done differently?
We’re launching Air Campaign next September, with the first four books ranging from World War II to Vietnam. Next week we’ll tell you what we have lined up – but what campaigns would you have chosen?
If you want to send us your suggestions or ideas over the next year, the email’s helloaircampaign@ospreypublishing.com. The best ideas will get copies of the first two ACMs next September – before they go on sale.
Osprey Publishing Ltd
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