Alas, my romanticized notions about airships die another (literally) deflating death.

This is a solid piece of narrative nonfiction that reads very quickly and takes on an interesting and little known story about an airship disaster that predates the Hindenburg.

I loved Gwynne’s The Perfect Pass and was interested to see what he did with a very different type of material. This is a far less dense book, making it less immersive but also a quicker and easier read.

I would have loved more contextual immersion and sense of place for the culture at the time, as well as more background on the principal players in the story. But the detailed account of ill-fated R101 as well as the nuts and bolts of how airships work in general were fascinating.

This was an entertaining and informative read. I found myself sharing what I learned from this book with those around me. I recommend it to fans of good and highly readable non-fiction.

I was surprised to learn that a British airship nicknamed R101 had preceded the Hindenburg in a fatal fiery flight. As the doomed voyage plodded onward toward India, its state destination, I hoped for a good outcome since I had never heard of this craft. The attitude toward the glaring flaws was laissez faire, mainly "yes, the job was risky and experimental but some resolute men had to do it." The fairy tale, The Emperor's New Clothes came to mind because it seemed the developers, and particularly the Right Honorable Christopher Birdwood Thomson, looked the other way when the fragile outer skin made out of cow intestines continued to fail, a very obvious problem, at least it should have been obvious.

This experimental craft and the struggle to make it fly was as suspenseful as reading an adventure novel. Two thumbs up, and not just to aviation enthusiasts.

Very thorough coverage of the topic. Definitely aimed at a niche audience. This nonfiction includes a lot of technical detail. It is not overwhelming, but probably more than someone with an interest in the historical period in general would want. Of course, readers can skim the tech details. However, this information would probably exactly what someone interested in aviation and/or engineering would want.
The book does include plenty of details about the historical period and key personalities. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in these topics.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to both NetGalley and Scribner for an advance copy on the history of one famous flight, and the role of airships in European history, and the role they might have played in keeping an empire united.

There are not many things that people across the political aisle will agree on, but both can easily come together on the fact that traveling by air today with a few exceptions is an awful experience. Sure private helicopters and planes could be fun, but the carbon footprint is something that should be more shunned, than celebrated. Piper Cubs seem like a blast though, as do hot air balloons. However if one was to bring a futurist from the 1920's and presented them with a modern 787, they would of course be impressed by the engines, and size, but stunned by that lack of amenities. Where is the reading room, the fine selection of alcoholic drinks? The dining and viewing rooms, private cabins? Smoking rooms? Though the lack of explosive hydrogen above the passengers, and not bouncing on the ground due to weather would probably impress. The age of airships, large ocean liners of the skies, were thought to be the future. Once some of the many kinks were being worked out. Britain hoped to rule the air as it once had ruled the seas, until the flight of the R101, ended that dream, along with the dreams of many others. S. C. Gwynne in His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine tells of the magical age when the shadow of airships were cast on the capitals of the world. When travelers flew in comfort, though with many dangers.

The idea of the airship began as a strange obsession of one man in Germany, an aristocrat who put up with the many jokes and derision that came from thinking that people could break free of gravity and fly free. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin designed a series of rigid airships, a fabric covered metal framework, containing gasbags, filled with hydrogen. Though flights were marred by many crashes, the people of Germany got behind the dream of Zeppelins and began a public lottery for both the building of airships, and the technology and science that flying said airships would entail. The war years were a boon to zeppelins, and made other countries want their own airships, though they looked far more impressive than the damage that they caused. Britain began a program for building, and one man a politician with dreams of power, and love for a princess and alcoholic spirits soon began to push for an airship program. R101 was the result, an airship long planned, but with dreams to make Britain return to greatness, and more importantly keep the Empire that was starting to show signs of breaking up.

A wonderful book that covers quite a lot of information, from airships, to politics, to royalty, to science. I have enjoyed the other books that S. C. Gwynne has written, Empire of the Summer Moon being one of the books I recommend all the time. This is the first of his books to deal with Europe, and Gwynne does a fantastic job, both in writing and keeping the narrative moving. There is a lot of history, and a very big cast of characters, but Gwynne never loses the reader, and helps to make paragraphs full of importance science needed to understand airships clear and able to be understood. There is a lot of what if, could airships have made a difference to Britain, allowing it more able to control its large empire, moving troops where needed, and even more supplies. Gwynne also offers a few ideas about what might have happened on the R101's maiden voyage, and writes these scenes in a very cinematic and honest way.

Years ago I came across a book by John Toland, author of Infamy called The Great Dirigibles, which was about airships, but mostly about airships crashing, and I was enamored. Also being a nerd I read most of the books about the Hidenburg, from history, to fiction to conspiracy, which I really enjoyed. I don't think I ever has a sense to how these airships flew, and how easily a wind, or rain, or a simple mistake could make these simple flights go so wrong. S. C. Gwynne is a very good writer of history, but more importantly about people. A really great book. Recommended for readers of David McCullough The Wright Brothers, and the previously mentioned John Toland book or for people who enjoy really well-written books.

Good description of the days of airships, how they are built and how it felt to ride and operate them. Was very impressed with their precariousness and knowing what we know today was surprised at the faith in them