Aviation: The First 100 Years by Bill Gunston

In 2003, the world will mark the hundredth anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic first flight over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This handsome volume celebrates humanity's first century of aviation with lavish illustrations and an exciting chronological account of aeronautical development. Following the Wright brothers came a number of pioneer designers and flyers from several European countries, including Voisin and Bleriot in France and Zeppelin in Germany. World War I saw the birth of fighter and bomber planes, while the decades between the wars witnessed the glamour of competition flying, including Lindbergh's first flight across the Atlantic and Wiley Post's seven-day flight around the world. This era also saw the dawn of commercial flight, which started as airmail service and slowly developed to include passenger service. It was the era of pioneering passenger-carrying aircraft such as the Ford Trimotor and the revolutionary Douglas DC-3. Also covered in detail are the fighters and bombers of World War II, the dawn of the jet age, the evolution of helicopters, and the birth of supersonic flight. An account of the burgeoning of the intercontinental commercial airline industry brings readers to the present, which is marked by intense competition between Boeing of the United States and Airbus of Europe, both vying for the lion's share of the market. Other topics covered in this superlative history include development of general (private) aviation, and a look at radically innovative planes, such as the Concorde SST and the Stealth military aircraft. Hundreds of photos and drawings, most of them in color, enhance an intensely readable text.