Flight: The Complete History of Aviation

by R.G. Grant

Grant, R. G.. Penguin Random House Publication 2017 2 Hardcover 0.00 9780241298039 0241298032 Other 9781465469366 Other ISBN print en Store History "Book cover image may be different than what appears on the actual book."

Genres: Aviation, History, Nonfiction, Reference, Science, Aviation History, Engineering

452 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2002

About the author

R.G. Grant is a historian who has written extensively on many aspects and periods of history. Among his more than fifty published books are: Battle, Soldier, and Battle at Sea (2005, 2007, 2008). He was also a major contributor to the ITV Visual History of the Twentieth Century (1999) and consultant for Chronology of World History (1995). He is also a contributor to 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History, where earlier versions of his contributions to Britannica first appeared.

Reviews

[David Kerrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler Alert: The plane can fly.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this years ago and loved it! DK books are just the best! Great info combined with stunning visuals!

[Evenumbers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good reference for the history of flight. There is a lot of interesting information throughout the book, which makes it very fun to read. The organization, with sidebars and many illustrating photographs, helps to give variety in an interesting way.

Unlike some books that only focus on different types of airplanes, Flight is good in that it elaborates on the specific usage of human flying machines at various points in the last century, tying them into political and economical developments along the way.

I especially appreciate the section in which it discusses the early history of human flight in the beginning of the 1900s. Besides the Wright brothers, there are many others who are often less recognized.

My biggest complaint is that the sidebar placement makes it difficult to read them along with the text if reading through smoothly, forcing the reader to stop in the middle of a page, read a sidebar, and then continue.

Furthermore, it would be nice if the book's title was more clear that the book discusses human flight.

Anybody who thinks they might enjoy a specific look at this history or likes to read about transportation should consider this book as a read.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own this book and it is full of airplanes from the past and present. I have read mostly all of it and i still go back to read. This book is one of my absolute favorites.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome book. Informative, great pictures and just brilliant for anyone interested in aviation -- sits lovely next to "Human" and "Animal"

[Daniel Dolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made the cut. Selected as the new textbook for my History of Aviation course at University of Maine Augusta.

[Thanh Phuong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative book with nice illustrating photos and pictures. I could learn a lot of helpful knowledge and information. This especially makes sense with what I read from The Wright Brothers. Really interesting!

[Debra J. Fultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Book is the best thing

[Joost · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might just finish reading this book and immediately start looking up how expensive it is to restore and fly an old Douglas DC3. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

[Romain T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially a textbook about human flight. I found it really interesting to finally have a comprehensive background in aviation history, and I feel that it may even be helpful in my own aircraft design. My only complaint is that the book is heavily American focused. It would've been more interesting to read more about Russian planes, Chinese planes, and Brazilian planes.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A plane flys over ahead at a plane show. There are so many planes in a plane show and its hard to identify when it was made and what the pane actually is. every plane is different. This book tells you the full history of each and every plane that you need to know. in this book I read the wright brothers all the way to the new planes that we have now. This book is a informational book that says alot about planes. The book is all about the planes history. I rated this book a 4 out of 5 because, it was very informational but,at some times it was a little bit slow. If your a fan of aviation history I strongly recommend this book.

[Timber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written extremely well. It does a good job of taking on aviation as a worldwide affair instead of focusing solely on the USA (although there is still a clear USA slant). The information picked for this book was well thought out and presented fantastically. The photography in this book is worth the read alone--so many stunning and rare photos! I absolutely loved this book, especially the early aviation chapters. Fantastic!

My only complaint would be the size of the text is really, really small! I have perfect eyesight and felt like I needed a magnifying glass!

[Leonardo Kammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not truly a "complete" history of aviation, this book covers a lot of ground in aviation. The content of the book is highly biased as a British and American view of the aviation history. For instance, Boeing and Airbus companies get a lot of coverage in this book, but the 3rd largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, Embraer from Brazil, is not mentioned at all in the book. The 4th largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier from Canada, is only mentioned in the context of being the current owner of the Learjet Corporation (a former American company).

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about aviation, the history of modern airplanes is clearly recorded.

DK has many books on the theme of vehicles in general, but this is the only one that focuses on Aviation, so if you like airplanes, it's worth reading at least once.

Modern airplanes haven't changed much in shape from those of the past.

If the disk-like shape could escape from the atmosphere and become weightless, and then fly the disk from there, wouldn't it be possible to significantly shorten the flight time?

[Moshe Bressler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a basically gigantic picture book of airplanes for adults. Absolutely fantastic.
The large photo's are captivating and draw you into the magical world of flying! Each page is tastefully laid out and this book makes for excellent coffee table decor.
Aside from the engrossing photo's, there is plenty of history, aerodynamics, and diagrams. Definitely a must have for any aviation enthusiast!

[Patricrk patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

don't read this as a e-book adobe edition on a netbook. It has three columns and my set-up only allows me to see about half a column at a size that is readable. Which means I was scrolling up and down each page about five times to read it. Good book with lots of information. Takes the air out of "USA stuff is always best" balloon.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book following and succinctly explaining the most important and history-making aircraft and events in the development of aviation over the past 100 years. The book flows both through time period and category of aircraft, making the information easy to comprehend even for those who don't have a background in aviation. A great reference book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge book with great info and images. The layout and design of the book really suited the amount of information. Lots of little details not in normal general aviation book, but like any book there where areas I would of liked a bit more info on specific aircraft or decades.

[Shawn Strope]

This is a good book if you are looking to write a research paper or do a project over the airplane. this book mainly covers the wide variety of different airplanes and how they have been getting better and more advance over the years.

[Sean Garrity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since this book is laid out in more of a encyclopedia format, I decided to skip around in this book. In total I read about 90-100 pages in this book. As per my dream to be a pilot unlike some people, I found this book very interesting and I learned a lot of new information from it.

[FranklinTV · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those "looks good shelf sitting books with lots of nice picture but I will never get arund to actually reading it" type books.

[Yegor · Rating 5 out of 5]

its a very nice book about planes. lots of pictures and details. 5 stars because of the great detail

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

725 - 2019

[Jerome Dee]

amazing detailed book! :)

[Duip]

finished in late March or the beginning of April.
Not all planes are clearly pictured, not to mention three angles views of each one.

[Jamie Tregoning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete guide to the history of aviation, interesting for both newcomers and aviation enthusiasts.
Not an especially light read.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent up until the 1980s section. Crippled by a shamefully nihilistic final section.