Frontis. illustration, titles, contents list & list of illustrations to front. Published in 1932 the author writes: “When one comes to consider it, there is something rather marvellous in the manner in which flying has become such a commonplace thing with its comparatively short, practical, history of only thirty years or so. With the progress that has now been made, it seems almost incredible that at the beginning of the century no such thing as a flying machine was in existence and that anyone who ventured to talk of aeronautics was taken as seriously as we might take suggestions for inter-planetary travel. Yet, to-day we have aircraft travelling at a speed of nearly four hundred miles an hour, crossing vast oceans like the Atlantic and bringing Australia within something like a week's distance from Great Britain. Most wonderful of all, though less spectacular, great air liners, carrying many passengers and much freight, come and go in all kinds of weather, maintaining an up-to-the-minute schedule between nearly all the world's large towns and spanning every continent. Truly a remarkable achievement.”