Empire of the Clouds :The Golden Era of Britain's Aircraft
Empire of the Clouds :The Golden Era of Britain's Aircraft
paperback
Published:
5 April, 2018
Popular Books by James Hamilton-Paterson
View All Books by James Hamilton-Paterson
Description
In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex.
How did Britain so lose the plot that today there is not a single aircraft manufacturer of any significance in the country? What became of the great industry of de Havilland or Handley Page? And what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age?
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780571341481 |
| ISBN10 | 0571341489 |
| Number Of Pages | 432 |
| Item Weight | 347 g |
| Product Dimensions | 129 x 198 x 25 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Faber & Faber |
| Format | paperback |
| Edition | Main |
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
James Hamilton-Paterson is the author of Gerontius, winner of a Whitbread Prize; Seven-Tenths: The Sea and its Thresholds; Playing With Water; and most recently, of the wild comic trilogy Cooking With Fernet Branca, Amazing Disgrace and Rancid Pansies. He is also an unabashed fan of great aircraft.