The book begins with Fredette's original theory of long range strategic bombing, and how it was adopted by the Germans, British, and U.S. Suprisingly, the Germans first utilized Fredette's theory in WWI and the British and U.S. were far behind and opposed to the the strategy, but then championed by Mitchell and "Hap" Arnold.

Discussed next is the development of the U.S. bomber program including the B-17. Development was rapid, and troubled. For instance, the U.S. bomber fleet at the time of Pearl Harbor included only a small number of B-10s, but B-17 and B-29 were already in development at that time.

The development of the B-29 was troublesome, and the book covers the prototyping and engineering kinks worked out in Kansas. Next the book covers the B-29 air campaign out of China against the Japanese heartland at a level of detail that includes every major raid, including the Hankow raid. Aerial photography in this section illustrates the disputed effectiveness of the theory of high-altitude precision bombing.

The description of the difficulties in the raids conducted from China bases lends background to the neccessity of the Marine assualts on the Marianas, including Saipan and Iwo Jima. Described next are the incendiary raids on Japanese cities, with descriptions and aerial photographies well describing their effectiveness and horror.

Finally, the book covers the Enola Gay and the dropping of the atom bombs.

A thin book, with lots of photos and illustrations...that is suprising in the depth and thoroughness of information on this super fortress of all WWII bombers -- the B-29.