Customer Reviews

Airlines of Latin America since 1919

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

R.E.G. Davies is known as both a keen participant in and observer of the 'great game' of aviation round the world. He will be especially remembered for his classic work on the Airlines of the the USA Airlines of the United States Since 1914.

In this work on Latin America, Davies pays close attention to the issues of geography and lack of infrastructure that the continent's airlines were able to exploit quite early. Airlines like the famous TACA built their business on cargo and freight as much as passenger traffic, TACA at one point dominating total world air cargo tonnage.

Nearly every page of these books has an interesting chart or photo. The value of these books lies in good measure in the photographic image of airline history that is selected. For example, the DC-5 makes an appearance in the Guianas.

Davies's approach in Latin America is by country, while also focussing on some of the intercontinental groupings, both German and French, Pan Am and Panagra, and of course the early TACA. I think his grasp of the issue of geography really dominated this book, which I rate in his top three, along with the U.S. History and the coffee table perfect Pan Am, An Airline and Its Aircraft, An Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Airline and the Airplanes That Revolutionized Air Transport from 1927 to the Present.

Some of the hardbound editions are on shiny heavy paper that both feels great in your hand and looks good on your shelf.