"Finnegan has done a remarkable job of bringing the observation war to stage center. He integrates admirably the operational and the technical aspects of the exponential development of aerial reconnaissance in the French and British armies. . . . Finnegan also succeeds in making highly technical subjects accessible to the non-specialist-no mean feat given the complexity of the material he presents, and its limited connection to contemporary methods and instruments. The large number of well selected illustrations add an extremely valuable dimension to a well written text". - Dennis Showalter, former President of the Society for Military History and Professor of History at Colorado College
Reprinted with permission from CHOICE, copyright by the American Library Association
45-0839 D600 MARC Science & Technology \ History of Science & Technology Finnegan, Terrence J. Shooting the front: allied aerial reconnaissance and photographic interpretation on the western front - World War I. National Defense Intelligence College, 200 MacDill Blvd Washington, DC 20340-5100, 2006. 508p bibl index afp; ISBN 9781932946062, $63.00. Reviewed in 2007oct CHOICE.
WW I marked the beginning of modern warfare that incorporated key technologies, including aerial photography and interpretation, that have been refined over time and continue to be important today. Finnegan (retired, USAF) has written a fascinating, well-researched book focusing on those technologies and their impact during the Great War. As he states, much has been written on the exciting topic of aerial combat during WW I, but little has been written on less glamorous aerial reconnaissance. To his credit, he succeeds in bringing the subject to life, at least in part, through the incorporation of numerous graphics. These include aerial photographs and the resulting maps; photographs of European and American innovators, i! ncluding famous fine art and commercial photographer Edward Steichen; and images of the cameras, camera operators, and aircraft involved in aerial reconnaissance. A particularly interesting chapter, "Camouflage and Deception," documents how participants were forced into a game of "hide-and-seek," altering the physical landscape to hide strategic intentions. As observational methods improved, the French saw camouflage as an essential art form and incorporated cubist techniques, established by Picasso, to conceal details on the field. Aerial photographers, in response, developed new photographic plates and color filters to discriminate between real and artificial foliage, for example. A significant work. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. -- C. Baker, Baylor University This information is from Choice Reviews Online, an ALA/ACRL publication, available by subscription at http://www.cro2.org/
