Story Series - Böcker

As the world's first - and only - supersonic passenger transport aircraft, the Anglo-French Concorde has never been out of the news. From its maiden flight in 1969 until its retirement from airline service in 2003, Concorde's achievements have been perpetually in the superlativ - the fastest, highest, most luxurious, most expensive (to build as well as to fly in) - to name just a few. The sleek white bird set standards in aeronautical design and passenger service that remain unsurpassed to this day. Here is the incredible story of an icon of 20th century design technology.

The RAF's mighty delta-wing Vulcan jet bomber is an enduring image of the Cold War era. A cornerstone of Britain's nuclear deterrent, it was later adapted for conventional bombing and saw its only active service in the Falklands War. Newly restored with the help of Heritage Lottery Funding, the last airworthy Vulcan B2 XH558 in many ways fills the gap left by Concorde's retirement.

Probably the most famous fighter aircraft of all time, the Supermarine Spitfire reigned supreme and unsurpassed from the biplane era to the dawn of the jet age, a period that included the Second World War. Here is the incredible story of this legendary aircraft, from its genesis in the 1930s to its continued presence at airshows and museums today.

The Boeing 747, more commonly know as the 'Jumbo-jet', was for many years the largest passenger airliner in service. Peter March describes its development and service history with the world's airlines, and includes a wide range of interesting facts and figures. His concise, but engaging narrative is complemented by a selection of high-quality colour photographs showing the 747 at work.

The Special Air Service (SAS) was formed in the North African desert in 1941, the brainchild of Colonel David Stirling. He bequeathed to the present day a simple, unshakeable fact – a small force of well-trained, well-armed, determined men operating way behind enemy lines can achieve damage and destruction totally out of proportion to its size. This concept remains as true today as it was then.A unique combat unit was created; copied but never equalled – the much feared SAS. Mike Morgan tells the story of the SAS, from its beginnings in the Second World War, through its involvement in the ‘bush wars’ of the 50s and 60s, and the more secretive military operations of the Cold War era, through to the Gulf Wars of more recent years. Nearer to home, the anti-terrorist duties of the SAS are covered – for example, the Iranian Embassy siege. He also looks at what it takes to be an SAS soldier, their selection and training, their weapons and equipment, and their links to the Special Forces of other nations. A series of appendices cover gallantry awards and a timeline of the regiment.

This concise but authoritative story of RMS Titanic, the most famous ship of all time, is packed with fascinating facts.

‘The fastest lorries in Europe’, the Italian carmaker Ettore Bugatti laconically described Walter Bentley’s huge, snarling British race cars that aggressively dominated motor racing for years. Driven by hard-partying young men known as the Bentley Boys, they consistently beat all comers, winning the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race five years out of six. They also dominated Brooklands – the cradle of motor racing – and its thundering, steep banking, becoming the world’s most admired and feared sporting cars. Bought by Rolls-Royce in 1931, Bentley languished in semi-obscurity for decades as their parent company concentrated on its main marque. In the 1980s Bentley re-emerged with mighty turbo-charged super cars, and saved the financially ailing Rolls-Royce from going under. Bentley was back, and today is the world’s leading performance luxury car.

Britain has a history of producing and using a wonderful array of fishing boats, some of which still sail under private ownership. These older vessels developed in their own unique ways, dependent on local traditions, the type of fishing, their place of operation and innovation from fishermen and boatbuilders alike. Later, with motorisation, they changed dramatically through the steam era until the advent of the internal combustion engine. Today fishing boats old and new attract scores of people to fishing harbours everywhere, inspired by picturesque scenes, the life on board or the new breed of vessels with their modern technology in an ever-increasing competitive market.

Perhaps no other aircraft in aviation history has been such a well-kept secret as the United States’ Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. This cutting-edge aircraft took the art of aerial spying to an unprecedented level and did it all from highly clandestine high-speed spy missions over Communist nations during the late 1960s and 1970s. With the help of breath-taking photographs, Mark Chambers tells the fascinating story of this truly unique aircraft’s design and development as well as its famous and ingenious designer Mr Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson.

The creative and technological genius of the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, led to the first powered and controlled flight. Born in Ohio, USA, the brothers’ fascination with flight began at an early age. Their first powered aeroplane, ‘The Wright Flyer’, was tested at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Wilbur’s first flight was on 14 December 1903, but quickly stalled and crashed. Three days later, after repairs, Orville flew to 540ft and landed safely after 12 seconds; this was the first powered flight in aviation history. Packed with facts, figures and little-known details, this book charts the triumphs and tragedies of the Wright brothers as they set about making history together.

It’s easy to forget that the original Range Rover, launched in 1970, created the luxury sport-utility vehicle market from scratch. A marvel of British ingenuity developed on a shoestring budget, it was the first four-wheel drive car that was as happy on tarmac as it was on rocky terrain. It truly blazed a trail for a worldwide motoring trend. The Range Rover Story is a timely and concise reminder of all that Range Rover has achieved since a tight-knit group of engineers first turned their thoughts to something ground-breaking.

The Jaguar name is synonymous with style, power, performance, luxury and an intangible element of Britishness. It’s hard to imagine its humble origins in a Blackpool backstreet as the Swallow Sidecar Company. Jaguar Cars was formed in 1945, and the metamorphosis began: superb engines, knockout design, epic racing victories and thrilling sports saloons followed. Over the years it has become a living legend. Here, Giles Chapman captures the astounding story of this iconic car company with a collection of beautiful pictures.

All civilisations have faced the challenges of trading by sea: storms, bad weather, and the hazards of cliffs and other natural landmarks that threaten their safe passage into ports and harbours. To guard against this, their people built lighthouses – first as simple fires on hillsides, but soon these turned to grand towers and buildings that cycled through each scientific advancement as it came. Lighthouses have now become part of the landscape. Aided by beautiful photographs from all four corners of the British Isles, Nicholas Leach presents the story of the lighthouse and its development, from the earliest lights to the modern navigational aids.

Designed to improve on the F-4 Phantom’s air combat performance, the Tomcat entered service in 1974 with the US Navy, replacing the F-4 Phantom II. The winning Grumman design reused the TF30 engines from the F-111B, though the Navy planned on replacing them with the F401-PW-400 engines then under development by Pratt and Whitney for the Navy. Though lighter than the F-111B, it was still the largest and heaviest U.S. fighter to ever fly from an aircraft carrier. The F-14 had its first kills on 19 August 1981 over the Gulf of Sidra and went on to serve in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The only F-14 loss in combat was when a crew was shot down over Iraq, the pilot rescued by Special Forces and the RIO held as a POW until the end of the war. In this book Tony Holmes tells the story of this fascinating aircraft which still serves in Iran’s Air Force today.

The C-130 Hercules first flew in 1954, an easily maintained aircraft which entered service with the USAF Tactical Air Command. Ten years later the 'Charlie 130' was providing the essential logistical support in Vietnam where a new landing technique, the Khe Sanh approach, added to the Hercules folklore. Paradrops, airlift and evacuation operations were completed around the clock, often at low level, usually under fire and nearly always in bad weather. AC-130 gunships blasted the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night, Lamplighters and Blind Bats dropped flares, and others scattered defoliant, 'pancake bombs' and 15,000 'Big Blue' block-busters. But more than anything else it was in the role of 'Trash and Ass hauler' that the C-130 earned unstinting admiration from ground troops and aircrews alike. The 'Herky Bird' or 'Fat Albert', as the C-130 is fondly known, went on to serve with similar panache in the Gulf War and in humanitarian relief operations around the world. Today, the modern C-130J version continues to provide the effective support for which the Hercules name is renowned.

The archetypal Routemaster is arguably the most recognised vehicle in the world, as witnessed at the recent Beijing Olympic handover ceremony. Buses have been operating on London's streets since 1829, originally with horse-drawn omnibuses, and the London Omnibus Company was founded in 1855 to regulate the various services. The first motorised buses made an appearance in 1902 with the LGOC beginning to manufacture the buses itself two years later. For six decades London went its own way with specially designed buses. More recent innovations such as the 'bendy' bus have not been popular, but today practicality of pushchair and wheelchair access has consigned the Routemaster to a nostalgic, but much-loved, position. With full-colour photographs, this book comprehensively tells the story behind London's famous red buses.

QM2 was introduced in 2003 to the great fanfare, as the largest, longest, grandes and most expensive ocean liner ever built. She replaced the beloved QE2 on the transatlantic run and has become a firm favourite around the world, her popularity soaring with eache new port she visits. Her interiors and fourteen spacious decks put QM2 head and shoulders above the rest and hark back to the golden age of ocean liners. Cunard experts Chris Frame and Rachelle Cross present the full story behind this great liner, from her concept as the next generation of ocean liner to her world-breaking achievements. With full colour photographs and fascinating facts, this is a must-have for all those who love ocean travel.

Even before the Apollo astronauts had stepped on to the surface of the Moon, NASA's engineers were drawing up plans for a reusable space vehicle to replace the expendable and expensive rockets. The answer was STS – the Space Transportation System – a 'space plane' to be known as the Space Shuttle. First flown in 1981, the Shuttle is the most complicated flying machine ever devised. It has been the stalwart of NASA's continued manned spaceflight programme for almost thirty years, with well over 100 successful missions including the construction and provision of the International Space Station. This success has come at a high price with the loss of eleven astronauts in the Challenger and Columbia disasters, forever burned into the memories of the watching world. With NASA due to retire its ageing fleet in 2010, this book tells the fascinating story of the Space Shuttle from its inception to the shape of things to come and through triumph and disaster.

The SS Great Britain Story is a concise account of one of the most famous steamships ever built. The great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel embraced the latest innovations, including an iron hull and a screw-propeller, to create an ocean liner that was decades ahead of its time. Launched by Prince Albert in 1843, the SS Great Britain was nearly lost three years later when she ran aground in Dundrum Bay, Ireland. Fortunately she weathered the winter storms and went on to enjoy a long and chequered career. She spent many years transporting emigrants to Australia, served as a cargo vessel, and almost ended her days stranded on the Falkland Islands. Following an incredible rescue mission in the 1970s, fully documented here, she was returned to dry-dock in Bristol, where she was originally built, and is now the centrepiece of a fascinating and ongoing restoration project.

The summer of 1940 witnessed the greatest air battle in history, as the men Winston Churchill dubbed ‘The Few’ fought over the skies of Britain to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority, which would have paved the way for Hitler to invade our island. Graham Pitchfork charts the development of the epic battle fought by Fighter Command as it reacted to the changes in the Luftwaffe’s strategy, reaching a climax on 15 September before finally coming to a conclusion in October 1940. In addition to the exploits of the pilots in the air, the contribution of the many ground organisations that played such a crucial role is also highlighted in this lavishly illustrated book.

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris called the Lancaster the greatest single factor in winning the war. The Lancaster Story tells the tale of this aircraft from birth to its last operational flights with the RAF in 1956. The evocative Lancaster lives on with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, also covered here, and the book contains fascinating did you know facts with a complete listing of Lancaster milestones and surviving airframes. The DVD contains wartime footage, with more recent film of the BBMF City of Lincoln, the last of the line.

Motoring journalist Ashley Hollebone reveals for the first time the full story behind the hovercraft, a wonderful British invention that was created in a back shed from a rusty food tin and an old hair dryer – simple yet remarkable! Christopher Cockerell’s 1950s invention has found a multitude of uses across numerous arenas, from cross-Channel ferries and leisure cruising to racing at up to 80mph; it has modernised travel and has an impressive safety record, yet despite this little has been written about this, one of the most innovative modes of transport. This colourful book decisively redresses the balance and comprehensively reveals the history of the hovercraft, through photographs and diagrams, making it an invaluable addition to every enthusiast’s library.

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber, universally known as the ‘Wimpy’. The only bomber in construction throughout the Second World War, the Wellington played a pivotal role in training and combat from its conception in the 1930s, through active service in the Far Eastern, Mediterranean and German arenas of conflict, until its final use by the RAF in 1953. This book follows the fascinating story of the much-loved and innovatively designed Wellington throughout its life, including many tales from the aircraft’s years with Bomber Command. Illustrated with a wide selection of images, both colour and black and white, this book is a fitting tribute to a wonderful servant of the RAF.

The book covers over 100 years of tractor development and features more than 100 different tractors. The first steam engines on wheels which used belts to drive farm machinery developed into traction engines, used on farms by pulling a plough on cables between two engines. In the 20th century, stationary internal combustion engines, such as the Clutterbuck, began to be put on wheels and moved around a farm to drive threshing machines by belt. Dozens of small companies grew up around the world following their own lines of development. Most lasted only a short time. Firms like Allis-Chalmers, Benz, Lloyd, Jelbart, Glasgow, Fordson, Bates and Hart-Parr are famous names which have faded away or been taken over. A few companies, such as Case and Massey, started in the middle of the 19th century and continue today on a global scale. John Deere started making ploughs in 1837 and is now the largest manufacturer in the world. Some developments have caused a giant leap forward: the use of rubber pneumatic tyres rather than metal wheels; turbo-charged diesel engines and the hydraulic three-point hitch system designed by Ferguson, which is still used today in some form on most modern machines. All are photographed here, many in action and in different countries.

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated. This event sparked off a war that was change the lives of millions of people around the world. More than 70 million military personnel were mobilised, and over 9 million combatants were killed. Entire generations of young men from towns and villages across Europe were wiped out. The conflict drew in the world’s great global powers, including the British Empire, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the United States and Japan, as well as many other nations. World War I transformed the way in which wars were fought. Cavalry charges and ‘staged’ clashes were consigned to history, making way for trench warfare, heavy artillery, machine guns and poison gas. Troops learnt to exist for months in confined spaces and ruined landscapes, fighting horrifying battles to push their line forward by only a few hundred yards. World War I changed the face of European society and politics forever, and set the scene for a subsequent world war. On 11 November 1918, an armistice at last came into effect, and we continue to remember today the moment when the guns fell silent on the Western Front. The World War I Story is the perfect pocket narrative of one of the largest conflicts in human history: the Great War.

In September 1939, Hitler’s Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Thus began the greatest armed struggle in history. Within days of the invasion, Germany was at war with France, Great Britain and much of the Commonwealth, but by the end of 1941 – by which time Japan and the United States had been plunged into war – the conflict had engulfed virtually the entire planet. World War II witnessed the mobilisation of more than 100 million military personnel. Here was ‘total war’ on a scale never previously experienced by any of the countries involved. The conflict eclipsed everything: industry, technology, the economy and home life. It transformed the lives of an entire generation of men and women, who grew up under the shadow of violence, separation and loss. It was also fought in every conceivable terrain and theatre, from the arctic conditions of the Soviet winter to the tropical landscape of the Pacific islands, with the battle for seas and skies being equally brutal. By the time it ended in September 1945, World War II had claimed the lives of more than 50 million people, and it witnessed the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare to this day. The World War II Story charts the dramatic narrative of the conflict from its first shots to its final apocalyptic end.

What Europe needed after the Second World War was an ultra-reliable workhorse to get small businesses on the move again. And, with a little nudge from the Dutch, that’s what Volkswagen provided in 1950 with its Transporter van. It was no fireball, but rock-solid quality meant it always delivered the goods.But then something incredible happened. People found that they enjoyed the trusty Transporter, and that it made an excellent place to spend the night. And once the British had helped perfect a way to raise the roof, the Volkswagen Camper became a worldwide phenomenon - the mobile home for everyone from student adventurers to gung-ho grandparents.Volkswagen vans have been front- (originally rear-) engined and water- (originally air-) cooled now for over 20 years, yet the spirit of the Camper is as unbowed as ever.Here, award-winning writer Giles Champman tells the whole, amazing story.

Very few cars inspire as much affection as the original Mini. It’s the small car everyone loves to eulogise because it oozes energetic fun, classless minimalism and evergreen style. But it's also of massive historical importance: the 1959 Mini, designed by Alec Issigonis, set the template from which all successful compact cars have been created ever since. It was the technological wonder of its age. The original Mini was on sale for 41 years, during which its 5.3m sales made it the best-selling British car of all time - an achievement unlikely ever to be beaten. And just when it looked like the little car would shrivel and die, BMW had the vision to reinvent it as the planet's most desirable small car range, and put it back on the serious motoring map as the MINI. Here, award-winning writer Giles Chapman tells the whole, amazing story.

After the success of the Halifax bomber that pulverised the Third Reich, Handley Page soon looked at new designs. Attracting the interest of the Air Ministry in 1947, Handley Page developed a new bomber that could drop the atom bomb on Moscow. The Victor was born, one of three V-bombers with the Valiant and Vulcan. After relative smooth test flights, the first Victor B.1s came off the production line in early 1956 and proved to be a remarkable bomber – a pilot inadvertently achieved Mach 1.1 in a 1- or 2-degree dive! A stalwart part of the nuclear deterrent force, the Victor saw service with Bomber Command with the Yellow Sun hydrogen bomb. By 1959, minor improvements saw the B.2 variant take shape. Flying faster and higher than the Vulcan, the Victor also saw action as a low-level bomber and also carried the Blue Steel nuclear missile. However, by the early 1960s, Handley Page was in trouble as the government merged aviation companies and the future of the Victor was in doubt. Giving sterling service, many Victors were scrapped and surviving examples were converted into fuel tankers. Cancelling the Victor force was a costly mistake as fuel tankers were desperately needed. Seeing action twice, the Victor was the unsung hero of the Falklands conflict as it was the only aircraft with the range to fuel a Vulcan on the famous Black Buck raid. The Victor also pounded Saddam Hussein’s forces in 1991, dropping an awesome 35 1000lb bombs.