Britain's Imperial Air Routes 1918-1939 Hardcover – Illustrated, 31 August 2016

A perfect description of governments wasting huge amounts of money to fail as they were never quite ready to spend enough at critical junctions to succeed. Of course, it never happens these days does it!

This is a 2016 re-issue of a 1960 book that covers the development of British air transport in the inter-war period, most especially Imperial Airways. Though slightly dated in some respects, this is a thoroughly researched and well written history. In as much as the title is literally true, as it's about the routes, the book is fundamentally about how the Imperial Airways route structure, and the airline itself, developed between the wars. The author offers a lot of information I've not seen elsewhere, especially those political considerations at home and abroad which dictated, or at the very least, influenced air route development. Professor Higham also mentions, albeit briefly, the competing philosophies of competitors like the French and Americans, as they all grappled with technological advances and growing public interest in, and demands for, air travel. The book offers a good deal of anecdote about the people behind the scenes and details of fatal accidents both of which help the reader understand the hazards and difficulties of day to day operations spanning the globe. This is not a picture book, though it has 32 pages of photographs (about 70 black and white), and befitting a history it contains thorough Notes pages, a comprehensive bibliography, and copious appendices on expenditures, aircraft, traffic statistics, and personnel and so on. The registry of British aircraft adopted by the airlines is especially welcome. Overall, a delightful book meant for the enthusiast.