A Brief History Of Flight. From Balloons To Mach 3 And Beyond

A Brief History of Flight reenacts the events that led to our greatest developments in commercial and military aviation. Witness the race between Europe, Japan, and the United States for flight supremacy. You'll learn how Wilbur and Orville Wright transferred their transportation savvy from bicycles to airplanes, and see the rise - and fall - of the zeppelin, one of the most romantic inventions of the twentieth century. You'll be there at the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Britain, and in the skies over Germany. You'll watch the circumstances unfold that led to the tragic atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Heppenheimer masterfully explains the economic, military, and social forces that led to each invention's creation or demise. You'll understand the role the stock market played, and continues to play, in airline mergers .