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mondovertigo's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury
crafalsk264's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
This is a nonfiction history of two airships. British Airship R101 and her sister ship R100 which was still being developed by the German airship owners. R101 was a hydrogen-fueled airship which crashed in France in November 1930, preceding the Hindenburg disaster by 7 years. During the years between the end of WWI and the gear up for WWII, Germany, Britain and America continue to explore the feasibility of an airship program. The frame of R100 and R101 were laid by Germany and R101 was sold to a group of British aviation companies. After that the development of the ship was an unofficial competition. R101 was somewhat ahead of R100. This book focuses on the human side of the development of the programs. Although there was plenty of evidence of the risks inherent to using highly flammable gas as fuel and to maintain the structure of the ship. With the advent of WWII the move to the more reliable and versatile airplanes.
This nonfiction book has been meticulously researched and the history is a unique backdrop for the story of men, machines, and mechanisms. Prior to the Hindenberg Disaster, the R100 and R101 was a foretelling of things to come. This book is similar to narrative and historical nonfiction such as work by Eric Larson, Jennifer Chastain, Kate Moore and others. I enjoyed the journey and recommend to readers of history, nonfiction historical, aviation, world history, technology and aircraft.
ramsfan1963's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
sad
fast-paced
4.0
A little known piece of aviation history, the tragic efforts to make hydrogen airships a safe means of travel. Everyone knows the horrifying story of the Hindenburg crash, but little is known of the British efforts to create their own fleet of airships. R101 was the largest airship ever created, at the time, over 700 feet long, full of technological innovations and the latest in British aviation know how. Not surprisingly, this story ends in tragedy as it proved again how dangerous hydrogen airships were.
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
This was insanely fascinating and horrifying! I gobbled this up in 2 days!
Crazy what people will do do for like…a variety of reasons that don’t seem worth risking your life.
Crazy what people will do do for like…a variety of reasons that don’t seem worth risking your life.
jeremyanderberg's review
4.0
“Grant, among a crowded field of often timid, indecisive, and incompetent Union commanders, was the best choice to win the war.”
I tried reading this book on our vacation in late August, cracking its electronic pages open on an idyllic ferry ride from Anacortes, Washington to Orcas Island. The problem was that Jane looked over at my Kindle, saw a rather blood-filled sentence, and said I was being ridiculous to read that on our vacation. She was right, and at that particular time I put the book aside for lighter fare.
As with all of Gwynne’s books, it’s an unvarnished account of history — no niceties, no sticking with scholarly objectivity (there are opinions aplenty, which is honestly a welcome change from most history books), and certainly no hesitation about presenting the gory realities of war.
The final year of the Civil War, from the spring of 1864 to the spring of 1865, was radically different from the first three years. While there were a number of reasons for the tide change from a back-and-forth fight to a Northern victory, one of the most obvious was Lincoln’s appointment of Ulysses Grant to command the entirety of the Union forces. And indeed, Grant looms large in Hymns of the Republic, as do the biographical sketches of a number of other characters from both sides of the fight. At times, it was almost Plutarchian in its comparing and contrasting of various commanders.
Though the book reads more like a series of connected vignettes than a truly cohesive narrative, it’s a structure that works well here. The war was so big and covered so much territory (literally and figuratively) that almost every book is either very niche — covering a single aspect, person, battle — or so weighty that it intimidates all but the most die-hard reader. Gwynne, as he did with his superb history of the Comanche tribe, keeps the story approachable enough for just about anyone (if you can stomach the brutality of the Civil War, of course).
Sam is as good a writer as there is, bar none. All of his books are real, raw, and utterly different from you expect out of the history genre.
I tried reading this book on our vacation in late August, cracking its electronic pages open on an idyllic ferry ride from Anacortes, Washington to Orcas Island. The problem was that Jane looked over at my Kindle, saw a rather blood-filled sentence, and said I was being ridiculous to read that on our vacation. She was right, and at that particular time I put the book aside for lighter fare.
As with all of Gwynne’s books, it’s an unvarnished account of history — no niceties, no sticking with scholarly objectivity (there are opinions aplenty, which is honestly a welcome change from most history books), and certainly no hesitation about presenting the gory realities of war.
The final year of the Civil War, from the spring of 1864 to the spring of 1865, was radically different from the first three years. While there were a number of reasons for the tide change from a back-and-forth fight to a Northern victory, one of the most obvious was Lincoln’s appointment of Ulysses Grant to command the entirety of the Union forces. And indeed, Grant looms large in Hymns of the Republic, as do the biographical sketches of a number of other characters from both sides of the fight. At times, it was almost Plutarchian in its comparing and contrasting of various commanders.
Though the book reads more like a series of connected vignettes than a truly cohesive narrative, it’s a structure that works well here. The war was so big and covered so much territory (literally and figuratively) that almost every book is either very niche — covering a single aspect, person, battle — or so weighty that it intimidates all but the most die-hard reader. Gwynne, as he did with his superb history of the Comanche tribe, keeps the story approachable enough for just about anyone (if you can stomach the brutality of the Civil War, of course).
Sam is as good a writer as there is, bar none. All of his books are real, raw, and utterly different from you expect out of the history genre.
lindsayb09's review against another edition
4.0
I, like most people I suspect, have heard a great deal about the Hindenburg disaster. But I had never heard of R101 (or any of the many other ships mentioned in this book). It's every bit as gripping a disaster story.
Of course it's easy to look back in hindsight and think that lighter than air flight was a crazy idea full of logistical problems. But as this book points out, there was plenty of evidence even *at the time* that it was too risky and too hard to control the many factors that impact helium or hydrogen powered flight. Changes in temperature, wind speeds, rain, and many other factors could majorly impact the power and speed of an airship. They weren't particularly fast (barely reaching car highway speeds), required constant monitoring and adjustment, and could be blown far off course at the mercy of a heavy wind.
Of course airplanes have not been without their problems over the years, but this book makes it clear why they won out as the main mode of air transportation in the long term.
While the book does occasionally get a bit technical, I was mostly able to follow it as a complete lay person who is not particularly good with science. It also delves into the politics around airships, which I found particularly interesting. Despite all the scientific arguments against it, both Germany and Britain continued to pursue airship development because of national pride and the pressures of controlling a widespread empire.
Overall this was a really interesting overview of the airship period, of this disaster and also many others. I love finding new bits of history that I never knew existed.
Of course it's easy to look back in hindsight and think that lighter than air flight was a crazy idea full of logistical problems. But as this book points out, there was plenty of evidence even *at the time* that it was too risky and too hard to control the many factors that impact helium or hydrogen powered flight. Changes in temperature, wind speeds, rain, and many other factors could majorly impact the power and speed of an airship. They weren't particularly fast (barely reaching car highway speeds), required constant monitoring and adjustment, and could be blown far off course at the mercy of a heavy wind.
Of course airplanes have not been without their problems over the years, but this book makes it clear why they won out as the main mode of air transportation in the long term.
While the book does occasionally get a bit technical, I was mostly able to follow it as a complete lay person who is not particularly good with science. It also delves into the politics around airships, which I found particularly interesting. Despite all the scientific arguments against it, both Germany and Britain continued to pursue airship development because of national pride and the pressures of controlling a widespread empire.
Overall this was a really interesting overview of the airship period, of this disaster and also many others. I love finding new bits of history that I never knew existed.