Empires of the Sky, by Alexander Rose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the opening decades of the 20th century two basic methods of powered flight—lighter-than-air craft, commonly known as air ships, and heavier-than-air craft, or airplanes—were the technologies competing for the role of prime movers for the air transportation of goods and passengers. Alexander Rose’s new book, Empires of the Sky, to be published on 28 April, 2020, tells the story of this technological duel by examining the rivalry between the main protagonists in the field—the Zeppelin Company of Germany, headed by Hugo Eckener, and Pan American Airways, helmed by the relentless (and ruthless) Juan Terry Trippe. In retrospect, it may seem that heavier-than-air craft—airplanes—were a shoo-in for the job over their lighter-than-air rivals, but in the early years of the 20th century this was not a foregone conclusion. Just as a boat floats because it weighs less than the volume of water it displaces, dirigibles get their lift by using a lighter gas (either hydrogen, in the case of the...