Empire of the Clouds
When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World
by James Hamilton-Paterson
Should I read this?
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books, History, and Nonfiction.
In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft a worldclass achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome deltawinged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fi...
Looking for Kindle, hardcover, paperback, or audiobook editions?
Check formats, pricing, and current availability directly.
Why recommended
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in Most Recommended Books, History, and Nonfiction.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
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 shortsighted political decisions in the late 60s and 70s.”
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider Accidental Presidents by Jared Cohen. Recommended by 10 sources.
“Accidental Presidents offers eight narrative portraits of men who succeeded to the U.S. presidency without election, using anecdote-rich scenes and readable context to show how personality and circumstance interact with office power. It’s strongest as a set of self-contained stories that make succession stakes concrete for non-specialist readers; it does not prioritize dense archival argument or exhaustive methodology, so expect some interpretive generalizations and repeated themes across cases. Use it for fast historical orientation rather than scholarly deep-dives.”
Similar books
How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.