SHIPS IN THE SKY

by John Toland ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 1956

The disaster of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, N.J. in 1937, only capped irrevocably the series of tragedies and near tragedies which had begun with the experimental dirigibles during the Civil War. Individual airmen from the inventive genius Solomon Andrews who was the first to float serenely over Manhattan, to Santos the Latin American playboy who became the rage of Paris as he circled the Eiffel Tower,- succeeded miraculously in surviving their early flights in primitive craft. But the Zeppelin monsters and the engineering marvels of America were destined for . Their delicate frames could not withstand the least structural irregularity, storms and engine failure were a daily hazard, and no safety measure was adequate against the threat of fire. The commercial doom of the dirigible has been scaled. Alone among man's forms of travel the lighter-than-air vessel has daunted him. But the brief, violent evolution of this misbegotten vessel is interesting, and a closer knowledge of the men who built them and flew them adds a living chapter to a dead from in aviation's history. Reliable.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION