His Majesty's airship: the life and tragic death of the world's largest flying machine
(Book)
Description
"The tragic story of the British airship R101-which went down in a spectacular hydrogen-fueled fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later-has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty's Airship, historian S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong. Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the twentieth century, were a symbol of the future. R101was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world's most advanced engineering-she was also the lynchpin of an imperial British scheme to link by air the far-flung areas of its empire from Australia to India, South Africa,Canada, Egypt, and Singapore. No one had ever conceived of anything like this. R101 captivated the world. There was just one problem: beyond the hype and technological wonders, these big, steel-framed, hydrogen-filled airships were a dangerously bad idea.Gwynne's chronicle features a cast of remarkable-and often tragically flawed-characters, including Lord Christopher Thomson, the man who dreamed up the Imperial Airship Scheme and then relentlessly pushed R101 to her destruction; Princess Marthe Bibesco,the celebrated writer and glamorous socialite with whom he had a long affair; and Herbert Scott, a national hero who had made the first double crossing of the Atlantic in any aircraft in 1919-eight years before Lindbergh's famous flight-but who devolvedinto drink and ruin. These historical figures-and the ship they built, flew, and crashed-come together in a grand tale that details the rocky road to commercial aviation written by one of the best popular historians writing today"--
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Citations
Gwynne, S. C. 1. (2023). His Majesty's airship: the life and tragic death of the world's largest flying machine. New York, Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Gwynne, S. C. 1953-. 2023. His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. New York, Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Gwynne, S. C. 1953-, His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. New York, Scribner, 2023.
MLA Citation (style guide)Gwynne, S. C. 1953-. His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. New York, Scribner, 2023.
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Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Oct 23, 2024 05:26:42 AM |
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Last File Modification Time | Oct 23, 2024 05:27:49 AM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Oct 23, 2024 05:26:49 AM |
MARC Record
LEADER | 04130nam 22004218i 4500 | ||
---|---|---|---|
001 | BK0030181519 | ||
003 | DLC | ||
005 | 20230125063851.1 | ||
008 | 230116s2023 nyuabf e b 001 0 eng | ||
010 | |a 2022058230 | ||
020 | |a 9781982168278 |q (hardcover) | ||
020 | |a 1982168277 |q (hardcover) | ||
037 | |b Simon & Schuster, Order Dept 100 Front st, Riverside, NJ, USA, 08075 |n SAN 200-2442 | ||
040 | |a LBSOR |b eng |e rda |c LBSOR |d WAL | ||
050 | 0 | 0 | |a TL659.R101 |b G99 2023 |
082 | 0 | 0 | |a 363.12/409420904 |2 23/eng/20230123 |
100 | 1 | |a Gwynne, S. C. |q (Samuel C.), |d 1953- |e author. | |
245 | 1 | 0 | |a His Majesty's airship : |b the life and tragic death of the world's largest flying machine / |c S. C. Gwynne. |
264 | 1 | |a New York : |b Scribner, |c 2023. | |
300 | |a x, 299 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : |b illustrations, maps ; |c 24 cm | ||
336 | |a text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
337 | |a unmediated |b n |2 rdamedia | ||
338 | |a volume |b nc |2 rdacarrier | ||
504 | |a Includes bibliographical references and index. | ||
505 | 0 | |a Dreams, pipe dreams, and imperial visions -- Brief history of a bad idea -- Night and storm -- Flying death trap -- "The feeling of utter loneliness" -- The idea that would not die -- India seems a very long way -- She floats free -- Trial by error -- France, and the midnight hour -- The perfectly safe experimental prototype -- The violent, unseen world -- Fools rush in -- A very violent end -- Solving the mystery : what caused the crash? -- Bloody end of a bloody era. | |
520 | |a "The tragic story of the British airship R101-which went down in a spectacular hydrogen-fueled fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later-has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty's Airship, historian S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong. Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the twentieth century, were a symbol of the future. R101was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world's most advanced engineering-she was also the lynchpin of an imperial British scheme to link by air the far-flung areas of its empire from Australia to India, South Africa,Canada, Egypt, and Singapore. No one had ever conceived of anything like this. R101 captivated the world. There was just one problem: beyond the hype and technological wonders, these big, steel-framed, hydrogen-filled airships were a dangerously bad idea.Gwynne's chronicle features a cast of remarkable-and often tragically flawed-characters, including Lord Christopher Thomson, the man who dreamed up the Imperial Airship Scheme and then relentlessly pushed R101 to her destruction; Princess Marthe Bibesco,the celebrated writer and glamorous socialite with whom he had a long affair; and Herbert Scott, a national hero who had made the first double crossing of the Atlantic in any aircraft in 1919-eight years before Lindbergh's famous flight-but who devolvedinto drink and ruin. These historical figures-and the ship they built, flew, and crashed-come together in a grand tale that details the rocky road to commercial aviation written by one of the best popular historians writing today"-- |c Provided by publisher. | ||
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Thomson, Christopher Birdwood, |c Baron, |d 1875-1930. |
610 | 2 | 0 | |a R101 (Airship) |
650 | 0 | |a Airships |z England |x History |y 20th century. | |
650 | 0 | |a Aircraft accidents |z England |x History |y 20th century. | |
650 | 0 | |a Air travel |z England |x History |y 20th century. | |
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