USAF, 1947-99 Book

The USAF 1947-99 is a vivid pictorial record of the US Air force since the end of the Second World War. Focusing on the aircraft and the men who fly and service them, the book features a wide range of different aircraft types-from the lumbering C-47 and C-54 transports to the F-84 and F-86 early jet fighters, and from the massive B-52 intercontinental strategic bomber to the futuristic but tiny F-117 Stealth fighter. With the onset of the Cold War, the USAF found a new role in Europe as relations with the Soviets and the Eastern Bloc deteriorated: assisting in the Berlin Airlift in 1948 with C-54 Skymasters and C-57s; defeating Soviet-built MiG-15 jets over South Korea with F-86A Sabres in the early 1950s; and in Vietnam in 1965 pitching F-4 Phantoms against MiG-19s. As the Soviet threat diminished and the Cold War came to a dramatic end in the late 1980s, the USAF acted as a vanguard against international terrorism with the successful Operations El Dorado Canyon in Libya and Just Cause in Panama. More recently, during the Gulf War, USAF units were deployed to the Middle East as part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In 1999, the USAF was once more in the thick of the action when a NATO coalition decided to launch punitive air strikes against the Milosevic regime in the former Yugoslavia. The role of the USAF has now shifted from international avenger to benevolent peacekeeper, taking part in relief operations such as Operation Provide comfort in Europe and Operation Restore Hope in Africa. The USAF 1947-99 contains more than 200 exciting photographs from official USAF archives and private collections-some of which are previously unpublished. Supported by authoritative and detailed captions, these photographs provide a graphic insight into the ever-changing role of the US Air Force.Read More