''Command Decision'' is a war novel by William Wister Haines, serialized in 1946–47 in four parts in '' The Atlantic Monthly''. It was published in book form in 1947. It was developed from the unproduced play of the same title in order to provide a market for a Broadway production that followed in 1947, then adapted as a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

in 1948. The novel depicts the stresses and emotional toll on the commander of a United States Army Air Forces general, K.C. "Casey" Dennis, in implementing a costly series of attacks by

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

es against German industries manufacturing

jet fighters Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

. The collective trio has been called the first important work of fiction about World War II. They differ from most of the prior war-themed works from that period, which stressed the experiences of average citizens forced to go to war, in that ''Command Decision'' explores the pressures of leadership, political in-fighting, moral conflicts, and psychological effects rather than glamorizing combat, and frankly admitting the high losses in men and materiel that characterized air combat. The novel has no action scenes and takes place over a two-day period entirely within the English headquarters of an American bombardment division.

References

1947 American novels Novels set during World War II Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in The Atlantic (magazine) Aviation novels Little, Brown and Company books {{1940s-WWII-novel-stub