Almost everything you know about airships is wrong. Between 1917 and 1935, the US Navy poured tens of millions of dollars into their airship programme, building a series of dirigibles each one more enormous than the last. These flying behemoths were to be the future of long-distance transport, competing with trains and ocean liners to carry people, post and cargo from country to country, and even across the sea. But by 1936 all these ambitious plans had been scrapped. What happened? When Giants Ruled the Sky is the story of how the American rigid airship came within a hair's breadth of dominating long-distance transportation. It is also the story of four men whose courage and determination kept the programme going despite the obstacles thrown in their way - until the Navy deliberately ignored a fatal design flaw, bringing the programme crashing back to earth. The subsequent cover-up prevented the truth from being told for more than eighty years. Now, for the first time, what really happened can be revealed.

About the Author
JOHN J. GEOGHEGAN is a journalist, author, and editor. His articles have appeared in the New York Times Science section, WIRED, Popular Science, and the Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine, and he has featured in a number of interviews and documentaries. He has previously written When Giants Ruled the Sky and White Elephant Technology for The History Press. He lives in California.

Reviews

Totally captivating. A fascinating account of glory and tragedy that soars with suspense. I enjoyed the hell out of it!

-- Dirk Cussler

When Giants Ruled the Sky examines the successes, problems and controversies of the American rigid airship program bringing the industrialists and engineers who designed and built them, and the officers and men who flew them, to life. No airship fancier's library should be without a copy.

-- Tom Crouch

It's too often forgotten that for a few short years the U.S. Navy actually possessed flying aircraft carriers and the world's greatest airship fleet. In his latest book, John Geoghegan has performed sterling service in excavating the astounding story of the Akron and the Macon from the tomb of lost history.

-- Alexander Rose

A well-researched history of the rigid airship "carrier" during the interwar years of U.S. naval aeronautics. A genuine contribution.

-- William Althoff

The best book focused upon the USS Akron & Macon published in the last 55 years!

-- C.P. Hall



Book Information
ISBN 9780750987837
Author John J. Geoghegan
Format Hardback
Imprint The History Press Ltd
Publisher The History Press Ltd