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King, Peter : Knights of the Air: The Life and Times of the Extraordinary Pioneers Who First Built British Aeroplanes

Univ. Of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 1989

ISBN 0877452652

544pp. B&W Illustrations Ink inscription, corners slightly bumped, 8vo, Very Good in Very Good DJ

1st Edition

KING, PETER: : KNIGHTS OF THE AIR: The life and times of the extraordinary pioneers who first built British aeroplanes

LONDON.CONSTABLE,1989.

ISBN 0094681007.

UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE+/FINE+.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour photographic illustrated dw/dj,with white lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain dark blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip,dark blue+white striped headband,top edge coloured and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,10-544pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements,author's note,an intro,20 chapters including an epilogue,8pp contemporary b/w autobiographical photographs in 1 block, between pp256/7, notes,8pp bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,separate contents and illustrations lists/ tables. 'Knights of the Air' is the story of the men who spent their youth designing and building the first flying-machines: the men who pioneered the British aircraft industry.Some of their aircraft have achieved immortality: the legendary Pup, Camel,Spitfire,Hurricane and Lancaster.But of the men who designed and built them,men like Frederick Handley Page,Tommy Sopwith,George Holt Thomas and Geoffrey de Havilland,perhaps only Rolls and Royce are still household names. These pioneers of aviation development were mostly born in the 1880s,were middle- class and far from wealthy.They began to build their empires during World War I,although several of them crashed during the bleak period that followed.World War II revived their fortunes,as somehow they met the challenge of enormously increased production and helped save the nation from invasion.They tested the early jets and speedily buit the first post-war jetliner. But already they were making the wrong decisions - errors which would result in bankruptcies,forced mergers and foreign takeovers.In these errors,goverments of both complexions played their parts. Peter KIng desribes the knights in all their glamour,skill,idiosyncrasy,greed,flair and desiie for power.Quotations from previously unpublished papers,from their colleagues and contemporaries,and from their customers (governments,Air Force,commercial airlines) will for the first time describe how wilful they sometimes were,as well as how brilliantly enterprising and how entertaining. The book follows their rise and fall,through the earlist days of wood-and-wire biplanes,the flying-boats,the air shows and joy-rides,the development of fighter planes,the designing of the Spitfire,and the Comet disasters,to the coming of supersonic transport. Please contact seller,for correct 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. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,thick 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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