EMPIRE OF THE CLOUDS: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE+/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip (£20.00) to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,matt,wrap-around colour pictorial artwork by Bruce Emmett,illustrated dw/dj,with blue,brown and b/w lettering; with negligible shelf- wear and creasing to edges and corners - a small nick/tear towards top of front spine/backstrip's gutter's edge,without affecting the boards beneath.Top+fore-edges imperceptibly aged but generally bright and clean; contents bright, tight and clean - no intentional reading creases to any pages' corners. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,dark blue paper-covered boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xi-xvpp+ 1-288pp [paginated] includes illus list/table,acknowledgements, author's introduction,10 chapters,12pp contemporary b/w photographs in 1 block,between pp144/5,notes,a bibliography and an index.Plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,a prose extract (P.G. Wodehouse,Blandings Castle (1935),and a quote, contents list/table.
In 1945 Britain inherited the title of the world's pioneer and leading builder of jet aircraft.
And how extraordinary these aircraft were over the next ten years.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.
By the early 1960's,the designers,the extremely brave test pilots,and the legendary companies they worked for - Avro, Hawker,Vickers,de Havilland - were gone or facing a bleak future.A heroic and distinguished industry was coming to an end,and now these magnificent planes are much-loved museum pieces.
What was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war decade when innovative new British aircraft made their debut several times a year, and pilots were the rock stars of the age? And how did Britain lose the plot so completely?
James Hamilton-Paterson captures that season of glory in a compelling story that fuses his own memories of being a schoolboy plane-spotter with a rueful history of Britain's loss of self- confidence and power.It is a glimpse of a vanished world: the exhilarating story of atomic-age aviation pioneers,their great and charismatic machines, and the men who flew them. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch, especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.
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