Imperial Airs: Leo Amery,Air Power and Empire, 1873–1945

In January 1904, at a lecture by a famous geographer, only a few weeks after the first flight of the Wright brothers, a young journalist named Leo Amery argued that air power would become a major ingredient of world power. His prescient comment is often quoted, but only to be glossed over. This article elaborates on it. The origins of Amery's views on air power lay in his childhood, his experience covering the South African War and the ‘national efficiency’ movement of Edwardian Britain. His views developed through his service in a variety of government appointments, including Lloyd George's Cabinet in the First World War and Churchill's Cabinet in the Second World War, and he occasionally managed to get his ideas turned into actions. Thus contextualised, Amery's views on air power illuminate both the man and the times through which he lived.     

The Politics of Empire: Douglas Hailsham and the Imperial Policy of the National Government, 1931–38

While the majority of high-profile imperialists were excluded from Britain's National Government during the 1930s, at least one leading imperialist of the era, Douglas Hogg, first Viscount Hailsham (1872–1950), was at the heart of British policy-making. Although historians have largely overlooked the multifaceted contribution of this leading Conservative to inter-imperial affairs, as a senior cabinet minister he made significant interventions in Britain's policy towards both India and Ireland. He was, both publicly and privately, at the forefront of attempts to resist Irish violations of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and, at the same time, became one of the government's leading advocates of a progressive solution to India's constitutional development. The article demonstrates that the simplistic image of Hailsham as a diehard reactionary requires significant modification. His approach was characteristically underpinned by a belief in the sanctity of existing agreements and pledges—whether or not he intrinsically approved of them.     

The Wireless World at War, 1939–1945

F. H. HINSLEY. British Intelligence in the Second World War, abridged version.New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xiii, 628. $39.95 (US);

F. H. HINSLEY and ALAN STRIPP. Codebreakers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Pp. 321. £17.95;

RALPH BENNETT. Behind the Battle: Intelligence in the War with Germany, 1939–1945. London: Sinclair Stevenson, 1994. Pp. xxiv, 328. £20.00;

CARL BOYD. Hitler's Japanese Confidant: General ōshima Hiroshi and Magic Intelligence, 1941–1945. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1993. Pp. xviii, 271. $25.00 (US);

DEREK HOWSE. Radar at Sea: Tlie Royal Navy in World War Two. London: Macmillan, 1993. Pp. xviii, 383. £25.00;

JOHN WINTON. Ultra in the Pacific: How Breaking Japanese Codes and Ciphers Affected Naval Operations against Japan. London: Leo Cooper, 1993. Pp. 247. £17.50