Customer Reviews

Imperial Airways: The Birth of the British Airline Industry 1914-1940

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This is a glorious book--a record of Britain's Imperial Airways (1924-1940), predecessor of British Overseas Airways and today's British Airways. An era of biplanes and flying boats, luxurious space and service but very slow flying speeds, and a feeling of adventure as one flew over vast stretches of Africa and Asia (Imperial's chief service areas linking British colonies), this inter-war period can be a hard one to capture. Bluffield accomplishes the task brilliantly with extensive text, evocative illustrations (including many color pictures of aircraft, airline publications and memorabilia), useful maps, and bits of timetables. There are several books about Imperial's history but this is by far one of the best available. Two chapters cover the work of pre-Imperial pioneer air services, and other chapters discuss the role of pilots, the survey flights over potential new routes, the role of specific almost iconic aircraft (the lumbering HP 42, the handsome Empire flying boats and others), the struggle to open trans-Atlantic service, and boardroom tensions and policy debates. You can easily get lost in another time in this volume. Recommended!