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Modern Civil Aircraft: Airliners * Regional Jets * Turboprops
128 pages, Hardcover
Published May 19, 2026
About the author
Edward Ward
330 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Ned Ward (1667 – June 20, 1731), also known as Edward Ward, was a satirical writer and publican in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century based in London. His most famous work is The London Spy. Published in 18 monthly instalments starting in November 1698 it was described (by the author) as a "complete survey" of the London scene. It was first published in book form in 1703. (wikipedia)
Ned Ward (1667 – June 20, 1731), also known as Edward Ward, was a satirical writer and publican in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century based in London. His most famous work is The London Spy. Published in 18 monthly instalments starting in November 1698 it was described (by the author) as a "complete survey" of the London scene. It was first published in book form in 1703. (wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 16, 2026
This seemed a perfectly decent look at commercial airplanes – those that whether you're with Easyjet or someone posher, or you have hired as a corporate jet, will take you places as a passenger. (Oddly the Airbus Beluga is there, as it has five seats for passengers, apparently – I dare say they're mostly taken by cargomasters, though. One can dream.)
This splits things up into four almost-equal chunks, of long-range jets, then regional ones, prop birds and then the business flight. So we go from the jumbos and huge A380s right down to the Learjets and smaller – some of these barely hold five passengers, and are little more than an air taxi. Every plane (or small grouping of marques) gets a good, readable bit of information, the usual databank, and one or two side-on diagrams.
Now, what I saw wasn't perfect, but then I didn't see the polished thing, but a digital review file. So I definitely noticed dates that didn't flow in order, one bird get the same databank twice for no reason, and annoyingly only a mention of two of the five types of plane allowed to go into and out of London City. I'll have to leave that hanging, along with more pertinent questions, such as – if an airplane producer so routinely makes a plane, only to make a better, faster, longer, sturdier plane based on it, why do they still bother making the first one and not jump straight to the rehash?
So often that's the case in the history of these things – a, say, 100 type will be ready, but the 200 will already exceed that, leaving the 100 redundant, dead in the air. But generally this book, as opposed to the foibles of the industry, is great at all of that – both conveying the history of all these and yet sticking to what we'll see overhead today. And that's where this really wins – the immediacy and currency of it all. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone getting into plane-spotting, for this easily allows you to pick apart the background of anything you sight, or get booked on. It doesn't have the overly-detailed tech for the spec-heads, but it immediately makes an intermediate spotter of you.
Rating what I saw this is an easy four – it might get clearance to go higher in the finish.
This splits things up into four almost-equal chunks, of long-range jets, then regional ones, prop birds and then the business flight. So we go from the jumbos and huge A380s right down to the Learjets and smaller – some of these barely hold five passengers, and are little more than an air taxi. Every plane (or small grouping of marques) gets a good, readable bit of information, the usual databank, and one or two side-on diagrams.
Now, what I saw wasn't perfect, but then I didn't see the polished thing, but a digital review file. So I definitely noticed dates that didn't flow in order, one bird get the same databank twice for no reason, and annoyingly only a mention of two of the five types of plane allowed to go into and out of London City. I'll have to leave that hanging, along with more pertinent questions, such as – if an airplane producer so routinely makes a plane, only to make a better, faster, longer, sturdier plane based on it, why do they still bother making the first one and not jump straight to the rehash?
So often that's the case in the history of these things – a, say, 100 type will be ready, but the 200 will already exceed that, leaving the 100 redundant, dead in the air. But generally this book, as opposed to the foibles of the industry, is great at all of that – both conveying the history of all these and yet sticking to what we'll see overhead today. And that's where this really wins – the immediacy and currency of it all. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone getting into plane-spotting, for this easily allows you to pick apart the background of anything you sight, or get booked on. It doesn't have the overly-detailed tech for the spec-heads, but it immediately makes an intermediate spotter of you.
Rating what I saw this is an easy four – it might get clearance to go higher in the finish.
June 7, 2026
Thank you to Amber Books and NetGalley for this eArc!
This was a very enjoyable bite-sized but informative little reference book! This book features notable aircraft from 1960 and onwards with beautiful illustrations of real aircraft. I would definitely have loved to reference this book during my scale-modeling days. The information is as current as one can get, as recent as late 2025.
This book covers airliners, regional jets, notable turboprops and business jets, so if you're looking for a good picture of a Cessna 172... This isn't the place to look. It's very currated towards the most notable and/or wide-spread in-service and recently retired aircraft.
I haven't picked up a current book about aviation in oh, about 6 years. I love civil aviation and while light aircraft is mostly my jam, these large planes are beautifully described in an easy to understand, concise format. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more reference books by Ward.
This was a very enjoyable bite-sized but informative little reference book! This book features notable aircraft from 1960 and onwards with beautiful illustrations of real aircraft. I would definitely have loved to reference this book during my scale-modeling days. The information is as current as one can get, as recent as late 2025.
This book covers airliners, regional jets, notable turboprops and business jets, so if you're looking for a good picture of a Cessna 172... This isn't the place to look. It's very currated towards the most notable and/or wide-spread in-service and recently retired aircraft.
I haven't picked up a current book about aviation in oh, about 6 years. I love civil aviation and while light aircraft is mostly my jam, these large planes are beautifully described in an easy to understand, concise format. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more reference books by Ward.
July 8, 2026
Thank you to Amber Books and NetGalley for the eARC!
This was a fantastic read, for both myself and my 9-year-old son who is a huge aviation fan. The book is really in-depth and curated towards the most revered and acclaimed aircraft, common service airplanes, and also those recently retired. It looks at a wide range of aircraft within these categories, and has absolutely brilliant illustrations that work in e-book format but would look beautiful in a big hardcover book. It's comprehensive yet easy to understand, and I'd highly recommend it to aviation lovers!
This was a fantastic read, for both myself and my 9-year-old son who is a huge aviation fan. The book is really in-depth and curated towards the most revered and acclaimed aircraft, common service airplanes, and also those recently retired. It looks at a wide range of aircraft within these categories, and has absolutely brilliant illustrations that work in e-book format but would look beautiful in a big hardcover book. It's comprehensive yet easy to understand, and I'd highly recommend it to aviation lovers!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews