Napoleon's Air Force

About the Book

For a dozen years, the great Napoleon Bonaparte pondered the potential of military aviation. In 1795, he requested a balloon from the Committee of Public Safety to assist him in the siege of Mantua; in 1799, he took a balloon company with him on his career-building showcase Egyptian campaign; and in 1808, he anxiously queried his scientific advisor, Gaspard Monge, regarding the possibility of invading England using balloon transport vehicles. Yet during this same period, France’s observation balloon corps, les aérostiers, the brilliant conception of a nation in peril, was allowed to wither and die. Napoleon’s Air Force documents the story of this organization, the world’s first military air arm. Its conception, implementation, and battlefield successes, followed by its sudden decline and abandonment, are treated in a full-length work for the first time ever. In this case, who, what, when, and where are less significant than why. Why was such a successful effort, a technical triumph, and a military asset of proven value allowed to fade away? Why was it that Napoleon’s air force never emerged into fame and glory? Carefully researched in France, England, and America, this work examines not only les aérostiers, but the character and personality of Napoleon, his attitude toward technical innovation, and those of his contemporaries as well. Finally, it relates the fate of this project to the timeless problem of the introduction and acceptance of change. Napoleon’s Air Force is unique, complete, and available now. Although written without footnotes for the general reader, it is accompanied by a bibliography of thirty-five formal citations. It will be of interest to readers of military history, aviation history, Napoleonic studies, alternative history (was Waterloo unavoidable?), and, finally, to all interested in the dynamics of change.

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