London Underground by Design is the first meticulous study of every aspect of that feat, a comprehensive history of one of the world's most celebrated design achievements, and of the visionaries who brought it to life.Beginning in the pioneering Victorian age, Mark Ovenden charts the evolution of architecture, branding, typeface, map design, interior and textile styles, posters, signage and graphic design and how these came together to shape not just the Underground's identity, but the character of London itself. This is the story of celebrated designers - from Frank Pick, the guru who conceptualised the modern Tube's look under the 'design fit for purpose' mantra, to Harry Beck, Tube diagram creator, and from Marion Dorn, one of the twentieth century's leading textile designers, to Edward Johnston, creator of the distinctive font that bears his name, as well as Leslie Green, designer of central London's distinctive ruby-red tiled stations, and the Design Research Unit's head, Misha Black, who in the 1960s rebranded British Railways and created the Victoria line's distinctive style, and Sir Norman Foster, architect of Canary Wharf station.

    Young kids soon found a passion for sharp clothes, music and dancing, but for some it was pills, thrills and violence. The original Mod generation tell it exactly how it was, in their very own words. First hand accounts of the times from the people who were actually on the scene. Top faces, scooterboys, DJs, promoters and musicians build up a vivid, exciting snapshot of what it was really like to be with the in-crowd. Packed with rare pictures, ephemera, art and graphics of the era. Featuring interviews with Eddie Floyd, Martha Reeves, Ian McLagan, Chris Farlowe and many more.

    The X-15 Rocket Plane tells the enthralling yet little-known story of the hypersonic X-15, the winged rocket ship that met this challenge and opened the way into human-controlled spaceflight.Drawing on interviews with those who were there, Michelle Evans captures the drama and excitement of, yes, rocket science: how to handle the heat generated at speeds up to Mach 7, how to make a rocket propulsion system that could throttle, and how to safely reenter the atmosphere from space and make a precision landing.This book puts a human face on the feats of science and engineering that went into the X-15 program, many of them critical to the development of the Space Shuttle. And, finally, it introduces us to the largely unsung pilots of the X-15. By the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, thirty-one American astronauts had flown into space—eight of them astronaut-pilots of the X-15. The X-15 Rocket Plane restores these pioneers, and the others who made it happen, to their rightful place in the history of spaceflight.Browse more spaceflight books at upinspace.org.

    This visual treat is packed with pictures and crammed with content for aviation enthusiasts everywhere. A century of flight is chronicled in hundreds of pages of jaw-dropping photography and accessible text. You'll enjoy an action-packed ride in all kinds of flying machines, from the very first prototypes to modern supersonic jets. Spread your wings and take flight in planes, helicopters, and airships, presented in glorious detail alongside fantastic facts and surprising stats.Jump in the pilot seat of pioneering planes, including the Gipsy Moth, Spitfire, and Concorde, before taking a virtual tour of each and every model. Discover how powerhouse producers, such as Rolls-Royce and Rotax, ensure maximum performance from an array of aircraft engines. Find out how famous marques, such as Boeing and Lockheed, came to set industry standards in aviation.Aviation enthusiasts of all stripes and ages will be captivated by this comprehensive and beautifully presented guide to the story of flight.

    In the early hours of Thursday, August 8, 1963, at Sears Crossing near Cheddington in Buckinghamshire, £2.6 million (£45 million today) in unmarked £5, £1 and 10-shilling notes was stolen from the Glasgow to London mail train in a violent and daring raid which took forty-six minutes. Quickly dubbed "the Crime of the Century," it has captured the imagination of the public and the world's media for fifty years, taking its place in British folklore. Ronnie Biggs, Bruce Reynolds, and Buster Edwards became household names, and their accounts have fed the myths and legends of The Great Train Robbery. But what really happened? This definitive account dismantles the myths and strips away the sensational headlines to reveal a flawed, darker, and more complex story. The crime, the police investigation, the trial, two escapes from high-security prisons, and an establishment under siege are all laid bare in astonishing detail for an epic tale of crime and punishment. Fifty years later, here is the story set out in full for the first time—a true-life crime thriller, and also a vivid slice of British social history.

    Born in a railwayman s cottage in County Tipperary he rose to enormous success. Ryan set up the airline leasing company, Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), which quickly became the largest such enterprise in the world. But it famously crashed and burned and Ryan lost almost everything.What remained was a little airline called Ryanair which was chronically loss making. Ryan set about turning Ryanair around, putting in one of his assistants, Michael O Leary, to help knock it into shape. The rest is history.Richard Aldous gives an irresistible insight into the machinations of the man who epitomised what it means to be an entrepreneur.Fascinating The Sunday TimesMasterful The Sunday IndependentReveals the warts as well as the successes of the Tipperary native Irish IndependentThe Original Celtic Tiger The Sunday Independent"

    It is a tale of quiet heroism, a story of ordinary people who fought, with enormous self-sacrifice, not with tanks and guns, but with elbow grease and determination. It is the story of the British railways and, above all, the extraordinary men and women who kept them running from 1939 to 1945.Churchill himself certainly did not underestimate their importance to the wartime story when, in 1943, he praised ‘the unwavering courage and constant resourcefulness of railwaymen of all ranks in contributing so largely towards the final victory.’And what a story it is.The railway system during the Second World War was the lifeline of the nation, replacing vulnerable road transport and merchant shipping. The railways mobilised troops, transported munitions, evacuated children from cities and kept vital food supplies moving where other forms of transport failed. Railwaymen and women performed outstanding acts of heroism. Nearly 400 workers were killed at their posts and another 2,400 injured in the line of duty. Another 3,500 railwaymen and women died in action. The trains themselves played just as vital a role. The famous Flying Scotsman train delivered its passengers to safety after being pounded by German bombers and strafed with gunfire from the air. There were astonishing feats of engineering restoring tracks within hours and bridges and viaducts within days. Trains transported millions to and from work each day and sheltered them on underground platforms at night, a refuge from the bombs above. Without the railways, there would have been no Dunkirk evacuation and no D-Day.Michael Williams, author of the celebrated book On the Slow Train, has written an important and timely book using original research and over a hundred new personal interviews.This is their story.

    In short, he shows what a marvel it is - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground.In John Lanchester's inimiatable style, he unravels the various mysteries of the Underground and explores its true significance for both London and the wider world. Like, what's the difference between the Underground and the Tube? How do tube drivers get to work to start driving the tubes when the tube lines aren't running? And where can you get your hands on driver-point-of-view videos?

    In March 1944 - as part of Bomber Command's 'Battle of Berlin' to decimate Hitler's capital city - the RAF attacked the spiritual home of the Nazi Party - Nuremberg. The raid that began on the evening of 30 March 1944 was a run-of-the-mill operation for the by then 'Thousand-Bomber' raids the RAF and United States Air Force were undertaking every week - as would be seen with Dresden's destruction in late 1944. What makes this operation so significant was that it would be the costliest in terms of aircraft losses that RAF Bomber Command suffered in a single night attack during the whole of the Second World War. The average attrition rate of a night raid was twenty planes, but, during this raid the British lost 96 Lancaster, and Halifax, bombers shot down and a further 10 written-off after landing, making a total of 106 aircraft lost (nearly 700 men killed or missing) and resulted in one pilot being awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. In addition, Nuremberg suffered comparatively light damage and the raid has since come to be seen by historians as a comparative failure. This new book would tell the human story of this disaster. John will look into the archives to research official reports on what went wrong with the operation, and how the RAF reacted to it. He will also look at the air crews debriefing notes as to their first-hand accounts of the disaster and why they feel it was ill-timed and the Germans were waiting for them. But, the main crux of the book is the human angle and Nichol brings his insightful and empathetic skills to bear with interviews of the very last survivors of this raid (who are all in their late 80s and 90s) to finally tell the true story of this most terrible night in Bomber Command's history.

    These awe-inspiring structures ranged from classically-designed stations, waiting rooms and booking halls to mighty viaducts, tunnels and bridges.In this highly-illustrated book, filled with colour photographs and detailed drawings, Trevor Yorke describes the range of buildings associated with the golden age of steam. He explains the dynamics of their construction, the materials used and the myriad of styles employed by leading architects and engineers of the day.For everyone interested in the world of steam railways, this is an invaluable guide to the architectural legacy it left behind and the role the railways played in our social and industrial past.

    Over the past one hundred and one years, the stories of the people and the disaster have been explained in art, movies, books, music and verse. This book begins with two original poems I have written to commemorate the ship’s first, last and only voyage and the heroics demonstrated by some of those souls on board, some who survived and others who did not.Other wonderful and historic poems from the years immediately following the disaster are included here along with musical tributes, some of which can be linked to hear historic renditions on ebooks and computers. Some of the poems are famous, while others were penned by unknown poets.

    For as long as we've been able to look up and see the birds we've wanted to join them. But our efforts to do so have not always been as elegant or accomplished. Instead, there's been danger, excitement, courage and brilliance.The Big Book of Flight is a celebration of it all, and a lot more besides, packed with derring-do stories of aviation's pioneers as well as fascinating profiles of remarkable planes, from Spitfires to Space Shuttles (and a number of other wondrous projects that never quite got off the drawing board). Along with a unique collection of fantastic flight trivia, crucial questions are also addressed:What's so scary about the Bermuda Triangle?Why does airline food taste so bad?And how do you make the perfect paper dart?With stunning photographs and illustrations throughout, The Big Book of Flight promises to surprise, entertain and fire the imaginations of anyone with their head in the clouds.

    The carefully researched text is accompanied by historical photographs showing each line in operation prior to its closure, as well as specially commissioned images from the present day.Thousands of miles of Britain’s railways were closed during the 20th century, many following the implementation of the ‘Beeching Report ‘ in the 1960s and early 1970s. Since then, many have been converted to footpaths and cycleways. Fortunately, both the keen walker and the railway enthusiast can enjoy these well-worn routes and hidden byways in peace and tranquillity. Follow the routes of over 50 long-closed railways across some of our most beautiful countryside and discover the lost railways of Britain.Routes include:• Drake’s Trail – Plymouth to Tavistock• Downs Link – Guildford to Shoreham-by-Sea• Midshires Way – Market Harborough to Northampton• Elan Valley Trail – Rhayader to Craig-Goch Dam• Hornsea Rail Trail – Hull to Hornsea• Deeside Way – Aberdeen to BallaterExploring Britain’s Lost Railways is an essential armchair companion for every railway enthusiast and outdoor adventurer.

    Over the last century it has come to represent not only London's transport network but also the city itself. Rare for the logo of a large organization, the symbol is often perceived as being 'cool', and its influence has extended into many other fields, including fashion, pop music and counter-culture.This fascinating book charts the history and development of the symbol from the early 20th century to the present day, and explores its use across the company's many activities, as well as its wide-ranging cultural influence. Richly illustrated with poster artworks, photographs and other graphic material from the London Transport Museum archives, the book features numerous inventive uses of the logo, many of them previously unpublished.

    In the early 20th century it shot to notoriety as oil brought the world's attention to this corner of the Arabian Peninsula. In this exciting account of the conflict Michael Quentin Morton tells the story of how the overwhelming power of oil and the conflicting interests of the declining British Empire and the United States all came to a head shaping the future of the Gulf States. With colorful additions from firsthand accounts, Morton brings a range of historical figures to life, from the American oilmen arriving in steamy Jedda in the 1930s, to the rival sheikhs of the oasis competing for power, wealth and allegiances as well as the great players in world politics: Churchill, Truman and Ibn Saud. This entertaining, yet thoroughly researched book is both a story of decisive conflict in the history of Middle East politics and also of the great changes that the discovery of oil brought to this otherwise desolate land.