This book investigates the critical nine-day period in 1941 during which four key planners formulated the strategic blueprint for the American air war. James Gaston, utilizing his background in military analysis, examines the specific administrative and logistical pressures faced by these individuals as they drafted the Air War Plans Division-1 (AWPD-1). The text argues that this brief window of intense collaboration established the foundational doctrine that would guide Allied aerial operations throughout the remainder of the conflict.

Historians and military scholars frequently cite this work as a precise examination of the bureaucratic origins of American air power. Readers often note the technical density of the prose, which focuses heavily on the administrative mechanics of wartime planning.