Empire of the Clouds

When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World

| 4.42 | 548 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Brian Cox, and 1 others. See all reviews

Ranked #54 in Aviation

In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex.

How did Britain so lose the plot that today there is not a single aircraft... more
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We've comprehensively compiled reviews of Empire of the Clouds from the world's leading experts.

Brian Cox @thestigmaster And I agree with you on this. There is a great book called Empire of the Clouds which describes how we damaged our aviation industry with a series of short-sighted political decisions in the late 60s and 70s. (Source)

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