"Italian soldier and writer Giulio Douhet (1869-1930) lived during a time of great innovation and change in the conduct of war. He began formulating his theories on air warfare as early as 1909 and commanded one of the world's first air units as Italy entered World War I in 1915. His writings, though controversial in his time, have so influenced air doctrine that they continue to be essential, fundamental reading for students and policy makers worldwide. The Command of the Air actually is the title of Book I presented herein, the standalone book Douhet published in 1921. Almost from the time of the first translations of Douhet's writings, several other of his seminal pieces ("The Probable Aspects of the War of the Future," "Recapitulation," and "The War of 19-") were assembled as a collection under the familiar title of his most famous work"-- |