Colonel Terrence J. Finnegan is a recently retired USAF Reservist whose last assignment was at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, and D.C. serving the Joint Military Intelligence College. His parallel careers in the Air Force and the Department of Defense as a civil servant covered assignments around the globe, to include the National Security Agency, European Command, NATO, Pacific Command, and Central Command during Operation Desert Storm. As a retired civil servant, his career included the Defense Intelligence Agency, NORAD, Space Command, and recently Northern Command. Colonel Finnegan's career primarily centered on intelligence and policy issues supporting NATO and NORAD Alliances. His work also covered new frontiers in intelligence such as Information Operations. He is presently a defense contractor supporting the National Guard.
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
in
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 newphotographic
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/
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