The Air Racers: Aviation's Golden Era 1909-1936
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In the breathless decades between 1909 and 1936, a generation of daring pilots pushed flimsy, roaring machines to their absolute limits in pursuit of glory, speed, and national pride — and The Air Racers: Aviation's Golden Era 1909–1936 chronicles their extraordinary story with vivid detail and historical authority. Terry Gwynn-Jones transports readers to a world of canvas-and-wire biplanes, record-shattering monoplanes, and sun-drenched airfields where mechanics, millionaires, and fearless aviators converged to compete in the great air races — from the Gordon Bennett Cup to the iconic Schneider Trophy — that shaped the future of flight. The central conflict is not merely between competitors, but between human ambition and the unforgiving laws of physics, as each race pushed the boundaries of engineering and courage to their very extremes. Gwynn-Jones writes with the precision of a historian and the pulse of a storyteller, illuminating the golden age of aviation as both a technological revolution and a deeply human drama. The book presents rare archival photography alongside meticulous research, painting a portrait of an era when flight was still a spectacle that stopped the world. Rich in atmosphere and technical insight, this is an indispensable volume for aviation enthusiasts and history lovers alike — one that leaves the reader wondering just how much of our modern world was forged in the slipstream of those magnificent, thundering machines.
Author: Terry Gwynn-Jones
Format: Hardback
Published: 1983, Lansdowne Press
Genre: Transport & automotive
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
In the breathless decades between 1909 and 1936, a generation of daring pilots pushed flimsy, roaring machines to their absolute limits in pursuit of glory, speed, and national pride — and The Air Racers: Aviation's Golden Era 1909–1936 chronicles their extraordinary story with vivid detail and historical authority. Terry Gwynn-Jones transports readers to a world of canvas-and-wire biplanes, record-shattering monoplanes, and sun-drenched airfields where mechanics, millionaires, and fearless aviators converged to compete in the great air races — from the Gordon Bennett Cup to the iconic Schneider Trophy — that shaped the future of flight. The central conflict is not merely between competitors, but between human ambition and the unforgiving laws of physics, as each race pushed the boundaries of engineering and courage to their very extremes. Gwynn-Jones writes with the precision of a historian and the pulse of a storyteller, illuminating the golden age of aviation as both a technological revolution and a deeply human drama. The book presents rare archival photography alongside meticulous research, painting a portrait of an era when flight was still a spectacle that stopped the world. Rich in atmosphere and technical insight, this is an indispensable volume for aviation enthusiasts and history lovers alike — one that leaves the reader wondering just how much of our modern world was forged in the slipstream of those magnificent, thundering machines.