Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age

This book tells the history of the birth and development of human flight - the technology that defined the 20th century. Tom Crouch weaves the people, machines and ideas of the air age into a compelling narrative and shows how this extraordinary dream was realized. He tells how the enthusiasm of amateurs spawned an industry that determined the rise and fall of nations. Whatever the pracical consequences, the sheer exhilaration of flight captured the imagination.