Terrence Finnegan, Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance in the First World War

Colonel Terry J. Finnegan's acclaimed work is a pioneering study of the impact of aerial photography on World War I, America's fledgling air force, and intelligence methods for decades to come. Sponsored by the United States World War One Centennial Commission.

The First World War demanded revolutionary technology to break the vicious stalemate in which the armies of Europe found themselves as soon as trench warfare became established. In the critical world of military intelligence, aviation assumed a vital role through aerial reconnaissance in reinforcing successful decision-making. The demands of warfare not only spurred aviation's development, it led to technological advances in aerial photography, radio intercepts, acoustics and optics that became the foundation for intelligence throughout the twentieth century and to the present day.

Colonel Terry Finnegan's Shooting the Front reviews the entire evolution of Allied aerial photography and photographic interpretation during the Great War in a text packed with photos and data based upon meticulous research in archives worldwide. The photographs included are both informative and spectacular, charting perforce the early years of aviation itself. Shooting the Front shows not only how important aerial reconnaissance was to the war effort, but also how it became the foundation for modern-day exploration of imagery and geospatial intelligence used to guide today's decision makers on global issues, and shaped intelligence work for generations to come.

--Book description courtesy of The History Press

COLONEL TERRENCE J. FINNEGAN served for 40 years in the Air Force Reserve and Department of Defense as a senior level civil servant supporting NATO and NORAD alliances. He has written articles for Studies in Intelligence, Over the Top and Over the Front, and was a contributor to Images of Conflict: Military Aerial Photography & Archaeology.