Martin Barraclough

358 pp / hb

For the first time Martin Barraclough tells the complete story how, throughout the past century, and first decade of the 2000s, British and South African pilots conquered the air routes from London to Cape Town with ever-increasing speeds.
His history starts in 1920 with the creation by the Royal Air Force and the colonial administration of forty three landing grounds from Cairo to Cape Town – later known as the Imperial Route – to allow aeroplanes to fly the length of the continent. It closes with the continuing challenge to current aviators to beat the FAI’s class records, or aspire to the ultimate challenge set by Alex Henshaw.