Winged Shield, Winged Sword; A History of the United States Air Force, Volume I: 1907-1950

Washington, DC: United States Air Force, Air Force History and Museums Program, 1997. 1999 printing. Trade paperback. very good. 25 cm, x, 513, [1] pages. Illustrations. Notes. Selected readings. Index. Mr. Nalty was born and educated in Omaha, Nebraska and graduated from Creighton University. He lived in the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas for his adult life, having located there to pursue graduate studies at Catholic University. In his professional career he was well known for his historical research and non-fiction publications on the military, particularly his writing on black Americans in the military. Along with Morris J. MacGregor, Jr. he edited the thirteen-volume Blacks in the United States Armed Forces and he wrote, and in 1986 published, Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military. Mr. Nalty believed the history of black Americans in the United States military was not adequately researched or shared with the general public, and his passion was to correct that oversight. Prior to retiring in 1994, Mr. Nalty was a senior historian in the Office of Air Force History. Describes and analyzes, in the context of national policy and international rivalries, the evolution of land-based air power since the United States Army in 1907 established an Aeronautical Division. Provides a clearer understanding of the central role of the Air Force in current American defense policy.