3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Conquistador of Research, January 19, 2009
This review is from: Conquistadors of the Sky: A History of Aviation in Latin America (Hardcover)
Mr. Hagedorn has done it again! He has produced a rich and detailed compilation for English readers of a subject matter that has been given, at best, short shrift in the past. Combine this with his book 'Latin American Air Wars' and R.E.G. Davies 'Airlines of Latin America', and you'll have a complete historical outline of Latin American aviation. Thank you, Dan!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic effort, June 23, 2009
This review is from: Conquistadors of the Sky: A History of Aviation in Latin America (Hardcover)
Having lived for some years in the fifties in South America, I got the aviation love there. So it was with a mixed feeling that I ordered this book, thinking it would not be possible to convey in one tome the fascination of aviation in South America. However I was wrong, as this is a fantastic book both informative and good reading,dealing with military and civil aviation, and guiding very well the reader through the thousands of aviation items of interest along the years. The only point not in line with the general quality of the book is the standard of photo reproduction and the small quantity of color photos.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A long overdue comprehensive study, September 12, 2010
Reviewed by
James J. Hoogerwerf
Conquistadors of the Sky: A History of Aviation in Latin America. By Dan Hagedorn. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2008. Pp. xiv+587. $39.95.
Dan Hagedorn's Conquistadors of the Sky is a comprehensive study of aviation in Latin America. Scholars and enthusiasts alike will welcome his "framework or context within which to understand the greater picture" of aeronautics within the region and his intent that the work be "an enrichment of the understanding of the subject as a whole" (pp. vii, xiii). His book is a valuable contribution on both counts. A volume on this subject has long been overdue, and Conquistadors of the Sky is a timely compendium of Latin America's aeronautical accomplishments during the first century of flight.
Much like the physical barriers that challenge transportation on the continent, Hagedorn surmounts nationalist and intellectual mountains. He collates information from distant and disparate sources and brings a keen interest, a depth of personal knowledge, and a familiarity with Spanish-language materials to the subject. A broad range of assistants and contacts provide area-specific details that strengthen his narrative. Finally, the clarity of the text allows Hagedorn to reach both academic and general audiences.
Following a chronological framework, chapters segment the era of flight into manageable units. Where appropriate within chapters, information appears under country-specific or annualized headings. Photographs complement the text throughout, including eight pages of color. A nineteen-page index follows twenty-eight pages of notes, although regretfully, given the detail and scope of the study, there is no bibliography.
Hagedorn references pre-Columbian Aztec, Inca, and Nazca legends and myths of flight or heavenly travel. Godlike idols and the condor are accepted today as enduring symbols of a proud aeronautical heritage. Notwithstanding that an aerial perspective may explain the mystery of the Nazca lines, for lack of any "compelling evidence" Hagedorn correctly discounts the "Nazca as humankind's first aerial adventurers" (p. 4).
Among the "adventures of some truly little known pioneers," Brazil's Padre Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão's hot-air balloonmodel rose to the [End Page 272] ceiling in the court of King D. João V of Portugal on 5 August 1709. Gusmão's triumph is well-documented, but in recounting Latin America's aeronautical achievements, Hagedorn cautions "exuberance, heat, and patriotic passions . . . sometimes gained the cachet of fact" (p. 5). Wisely, he is careful to give specific dates and, where appropriate, inform the reader about the limitations of the record when seeking to make determinations of the region's aeronautical history.
During the early years of manned flight, Latin Americans looked to Europe for inspiration, support, and training. A number of regional aviators served on both sides during World War I. As a consequence of the war, though, aviation influence shifted from Europe to the United States. Wartime restrictions and the reliance on foreign nations, Hagedorn observes, gave rise to a push for "indigenous solutions" (p. 94). In 1917 Mexico designed "the Series A two-place biplane, built in considerable numbers" (p. 113). Although the progression has been tenuous at times, successful modern examples of indigenous aircraft programs include Argentina's IA-58 Pucará twin-turboprop attack aircraft and Brazil's Embraer Brasilia.
The core of Conquistadors of the Sky spans the interwar period, World War II, and its aftermath. A long chapter, "Airlines, Air Wars, and Foreign Missions," references country-specific developments year by year between the wars. In detailing World War II and the postwar years, Hagedorn highlights U.S. defense aid and Lend-Lease programs. These bolstered the region's war effort (except for Argentina, which favored the Axis) and subsequently served to foster military and commercial affairs during the postwar period. Hagedorn concludes with an examination of narco-trafficking, underscoring the point that aviation had its underside.
More of a reference work than a monograph, Conquistadors of the Sky brings clarity and insight to a complex subject.
James J. Hoogerwerf
James Hoogerwerf is a retired Delta Air Lines captain who is now completing his graduate studies at Auburn University. His dissertation, under the direction of Dr. William F. Trimble, is on the origins of Delta Air Lines up to World War II.
Copyright © 2010 The Society for the History of Technology
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