Description

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'Mr Leasor's account of a tragedy that ought not to have happened, is full and moving.' The Times

'Detailed and gripping' Evening Standard

'A strangely gripping biography of an airship... and - being well written - his book is one which everybody interested in the history of British Aviation will find worth reading.' The Aeronautical Journal

The R101 airship was thought to be the model for the future, an amazing design that was 'as safe as houses. . .except for the millionth chance'. On the night of 4 October 1930 that chance in a million came up however.

James Leasor brilliantly reconstructs the conception and crash of this huge ship of the air with compassion for the forty-seven dead, including a cabinet minister - and only six survivors. One of the biggest disasters of British aviation history, which marked the end of commercial airships as a serious form of transport, this book also reads as a textbook of how state attempts to manage commercial ventures so often end in a disaster of one kind or another.

About the Author

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James Leasor was educated at The City of London School and Oriel College, Oxford. In World War II he was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Regiment and posted to the 1st Lincolns in Burma and India, where he served for three and a half years. His experiences there stimulated his interest in India, both past and present, and inspired him to write such books as Boarding Party (filmed as The Sea Wolves), The Red Fort, Follow the Drum and NTR. He later became a feature writer and foreign correspondent at the Daily Express. There he wrote The One that Got Away, the story of the sole German POW to escape from Allied hands. As well as non-fiction, Leasor has written novels, including the Dr Jason Love series, which have been published in 19 countries. Passport to Oblivion was filmed as Where the Spies Are with David Niven. He died in September 2007.