Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. America Looks to the Skies
1. "We Were Dealing with a Miracle": The Fantasy of Air Power
2. "Did You Ever Buy a Pig in a Poke?" Promoting the Military Aviation Appropriation Bill
3. A Matter of Class
Part II. The Images of the Ace
4. "They Made Grand Copy": Origins of the Images of the Ace
5. Casus Belli: War as Melodrama
6. Civilized Warfare and the Gentleman-Knight
7. Mechanized Warfare and the Man
8. "The Man Is Alone": Free Lance and Lone Wolf
9. The Sporting Life
Part III. Death and Transfiguration
10. "As Swimmers into Cleanness Leaping": Primitive Instinct, Civilized Character, and the Hero's Fate
11. American Pilots as Symbols of American Democracy
12. Death Wears a Romantic Mask
Epilogue: Democratizing War
Notes
References
Index
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: World War, 1914-1918 Aerial operations, American, World War, 1914-1918 Campaigns Western Front, Heroes, Fighter pilots, World War, 1914-1918 Social aspects United States, War and society United States