Product Description

From the early pioneers to the latest spaceflight technology, this groundbreaking book charts the inspirational story behind humankind's conquest of the skies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11888 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 452 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, this volume of capsule histories and archival images traces the history of flight with all the sepia-toned authority of a public broadcasting documentary. Offering thumbnail profiles of aviation heroes and inventors and a plethora of diagrams and photos, the oversized tome straddles the line between something to put on a coffee table and something to give to a panting, preteen armchair pilot. Sections on space travel, commercial flight and early daredevilry fascinate, but take second stage to the story of flight as it interweaves with a century-long history of war-conflict being the catalyst for much of aviation's greatest innovations and adventures. Most of the book's pages recount bombing raids and dogfights through the decades, but others showcase popular, pioneering or just plain weird designs (the part-plane, part-car Aerocar, the miniscule Sky Louse, the capsule-shaped Gee Bee Super Sportster and the Caproni Ca 60 Transaero, an eight-engine triplane). This hefty volume is a flight museum sandwiched between two covers: careful, informative and educational-and a bit overwhelming.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This sweeping compendium of milestones in 20th-century aviation history is published in association with the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, which may account for its rigorous attention to detail. Grant (The Berlin Wall) offers a wealth of supportive information to complement his engagingly written text. Succinct offset biographies sketch the lives and contributions of aviation's pioneers (both men and women), scientists, promoters, businessmen, barnstormers, racers, designers and manufacturers, aces (from World War I to Vietnam), and astronauts and cosmonauts. Fascinating sidebars also treat early flight, assorted inventions, famous air races (1910-39), the gradual transformation of the role of the fighter pilot, the evolution of aerial weaponry, training programs, navigational technology, aerial exploration, landmark altitude and long-distance flights, Zeppelin travel, power plants, Hitler's jet and rocket programs, the breaking of the sound barrier, the Cold War space race, and America's current shuttle program. The impressive illustrations include over 300 gorgeous, full-color profiles of the world's major military and civilian aircraft and space vehicles. The result is a work of greater overall scope and depth than Bill Gunston's Aviation: The First 100 Years. Highly recommended for all military, aviation, and transportation collections and public libraries.
John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Hundreds of photographs from the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum enhance this captivating history of flying that profiles 300 planes. Grant, a writer with 20 books to his credit, divides this book into sections that include a prehistory of flight and the Wright brothers; accounts of air combat in World War I; and a focus on the "golden age" that recounts the flights of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Jimmy Doolittle, and the great airships and flying boats. He also presents a history of aircraft's role in World War II (the Battle of Britain, the air war at sea, and the Allied bombing raids on Axis cities); the cold war and Vietnam; space travel; and jet passenger travel. Here is an encyclopedic work on a fascinating subject, for all public libraries. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

If you buy just one big airplane book, buy this one
This is an amazing great big book. There are hundreds of big glossy books of planes and aviation history in bookstores, and with the 100 years of powered controlled flight anniversary, there will no doubt be a few more bowing the shelves. But if you want to buy just one, say for a present, then this is the one to buy. It is balanced, it is complete, it has pictures and text in harmony -- and it is not slapped together like some other slightly embarrassing flying tomes.

Over 400 pages perfect for a youngster, yet written well enough for any adult. Is it perfect? No. But 400 pages of perfection would be hard. I would have put in RJ's rather than the F-28 in the current small airliner section, but complaining about a couple of details should not hide the fact that this is one big cool book. Whatever more detailed specialized books about flying you get later, you will not need to get a great big glossy exciting celebration of flight book again. You'll already have one of the best.

The Best HISTORICAL Book on Aviation....
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's "Flight: 100 Years of Aviation," by R.G. Grant and John R. Dailey LOOKS like a "coffee table book." It is SO much more than that - although at over 400 pages and approximately 1000 magnificent photographs, it certainly would fit the bill. It is worth every penny of it's cost.

As the female Vice-President of two small aviation restoration companies, I collect a lot of aviation books. This is absolutely the BEST historical view on aviation. The information and photographs that it provides on early aviation are the best that I have seen. It features memorabilla as well as photos of aviation's many pilots/inventors. Almost all of the photographs were new to me and not simply the same photos shown in all the other books.

Later models are glossed over a little more, but I imagine that the book would have been over 1000 pages if they had gone into much more detail. This book is meant to serve as an overview of aviation's history. Most aviation history books simply feature the planes. This book details so MUCH more. It discusses black boxes, ejection seats, posters, newspaper clippings and much more; truly giving a well-rounded view of aviation.

If you are a pilot or simply interested in aviation - or if you know a young person who is interested in aviation....THIS is the book to buy them. The photographs ALONE are worth purchasing this book!

100 Years of Aviation
I am 12 years old and I found this book to be very informative. Though it is written on an adult level, it is easy enough for a preteen to follow. It gives extensive history on planes from the birth of flight to the present. I highly recommend this book.