His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)
Published:
Simon & Schuster Audio 2023
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
From historian and bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Empire of the Summer Moon comes a "captivating, thoroughly researched" (The New York Times Book Review) tale of the rise and fall of the world's largest airship—and the doomed love story between an ambitious British officer and a married Romanian princess at its heart.
The tragic fate of the British airship R101—which went down in a spectacular fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later—has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty's Airship, S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong.
Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the 20th century, were a symbol of the future. R101 was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world's most advanced engineering—she was also the lynchpin of an imperial British scheme to link by air the far-flung areas of its empire, from Australia to India, South Africa, Canada, Egypt, and Singapore. No one had ever conceived of anything like this, and R101 captivated the world. There was just one problem: beyond the hype and technological wonders, these big, steel-framed, hydrogen-filled airships were a dangerously bad idea.
Gwynne's chronicle features a cast of remarkable—and tragically flawed—characters, including Lord Christopher Thomson, the man who dreamed up the Imperial Airship Scheme and then relentlessly pushed R101 to her destruction; Princess Marthe Bibesco, the celebrated writer and glamorous socialite with whom he had a long affair; and George Herbert Scott, a national hero who was the first person to cross the Atlantic twice in any aircraft, in 1919—eight years before Lindbergh's famous flight—but who devolved into drink and ruin. These historical figures—and the ship they built, flew, and crashed—come together in "a Promethean tale of unlimited ambitions and technical limitations, airy dreams and explosive endings" (The Wall Street Journal).
The tragic fate of the British airship R101—which went down in a spectacular fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later—has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty's Airship, S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong.
Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the 20th century, were a symbol of the future. R101 was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world's most advanced engineering—she was also the lynchpin of an imperial British scheme to link by air the far-flung areas of its empire, from Australia to India, South Africa, Canada, Egypt, and Singapore. No one had ever conceived of anything like this, and R101 captivated the world. There was just one problem: beyond the hype and technological wonders, these big, steel-framed, hydrogen-filled airships were a dangerously bad idea.
Gwynne's chronicle features a cast of remarkable—and tragically flawed—characters, including Lord Christopher Thomson, the man who dreamed up the Imperial Airship Scheme and then relentlessly pushed R101 to her destruction; Princess Marthe Bibesco, the celebrated writer and glamorous socialite with whom he had a long affair; and George Herbert Scott, a national hero who was the first person to cross the Atlantic twice in any aircraft, in 1919—eight years before Lindbergh's famous flight—but who devolved into drink and ruin. These historical figures—and the ship they built, flew, and crashed—come together in "a Promethean tale of unlimited ambitions and technical limitations, airy dreams and explosive endings" (The Wall Street Journal).
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
OverDrive Listen
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
05/02/2023
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781797158136
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
S. C. Gwynne. (2023). His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. Unabridged Simon & Schuster Audio.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)S. C. Gwynne. 2023. His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. Simon & Schuster Audio.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)S. C. Gwynne, His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023.
MLA Citation (style guide)S. C. Gwynne. His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine. Unabridged Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
Library | Owned | Available |
---|---|---|
Shared Digital Collection | 2 | 1 |
There is 1 hold on this title.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
9d42f979-25cb-b06b-d71a-b037f2472322
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Apr 28, 2023 13:00:43
Date Updated:
May 02, 2023 20:49:55
Last Metadata Check:
May 05, 2024 18:35:02
Last Metadata Change:
Mar 23, 2024 22:18:34
Last Availability Check:
May 05, 2024 18:35:05
Last Availability Change:
Apr 27, 2024 05:05:54
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
May 06, 2024 02:10:18
OverDrive Product Record
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG100.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG200.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG150.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG400.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- formats
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781797158136
- name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
- id: audiobook-mp3
- identifiers:
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781797158136
- name: OverDrive Listen
- id: audiobook-overdrive
- identifiers:
- mediaType
- Audiobook
- primaryCreator
- role: Author
- name: S. C. Gwynne
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- His Majesty's Airship
- dateAdded
- 2023-04-28T17:49:00Z
- contentDetails
- href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=9296055
- type: text/html
- account:
- name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
- id: 1151
- sortTitle
- His Majesty's Airship
- crossRefId
- 9296055
- subtitle
- The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine
- id
- D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79
- starRating
- 0
OverDrive MetaData
- isPublicDomain
- False
- formats
- duration: 09:10:25
- fileName: HisMajestysAirship_9781797158136_9296055
- partCount: 9
- fileSize: 261877044
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781797158136
- rights:
- type: PlayOnPC
- value: 1
- type: PlayOnPCCount
- value: -1
- type: BurnToCD
- value: 1
- type: BurnToCDCount
- value: -1
- type: PlayOnPM
- value: 1
- type: TransferToSDMI
- value: 1
- type: TransferToNonSDMI
- value: 1
- type: TransferCount
- value: -1
- type: CollaborativePlay
- value: 0
- type: PublicPerformance
- value: 0
- type: TranscodeToAAC
- value: 1
- name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
- isReadAlong: False
- id: audiobook-mp3
- onSaleDate: 5/2/2023
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: audiobook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=d94ea692-3ce0-42ac-9db5-3ae71c51ad79&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- duration: 09:05:30
- fileName: HisMajestysAirshipth_9781797158136_9296055
- partCount: 0
- fileSize: 261840974
- identifiers:
- type: ISBN
- value: 9781797158136
- name: OverDrive Listen
- isReadAlong: False
- id: audiobook-overdrive
- onSaleDate: 5/2/2023
- samples:
- source: From the book
- formatType: audiobook-overdrive
- url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=d94ea692-3ce0-42ac-9db5-3ae71c51ad79&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
- creators
- role: Author
- fileAs: Gwynne, S. C.
- bioText: S.C. Gwynne is the author of His Majesty's Airship, Hymns of the Republic, and the New York Times bestsellers Rebel Yell and Empire of the Summer Moon, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He spent most of his career as a journalist, including stints with Time as bureau chief, national correspondent, and senior editor, and with Texas Monthly as executive editor. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife.
- name: S. C. Gwynne
- role: Narrator
- fileAs: Boulton, Nicholas
- name: Nicholas Boulton
- publishDate
- 2023-05-02T00:00:00-04:00
- edition
- Unabridged
- isOwnedByCollections
- True
- title
- His Majesty's Airship
- fullDescription
- From historian and bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Empire of the Summer Moon comes a "captivating, thoroughly researched" (The New York Times Book Review) tale of the rise and fall of the world's largest airship—and the doomed love story between an ambitious British officer and a married Romanian princess at its heart.
The tragic fate of the British airship R101—which went down in a spectacular fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later—has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty's Airship, S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong.
Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the 20th century, were a symbol of the future. R101 was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world's most advanced engineering—she was also the lynchpin of an imperial British scheme to link by air the far-flung areas of its empire, from Australia to India, South Africa, Canada, Egypt, and Singapore. No one had ever conceived of anything like this, and R101 captivated the world. There was just one problem: beyond the hype and technological wonders, these big, steel-framed, hydrogen-filled airships were a dangerously bad idea.
Gwynne's chronicle features a cast of remarkable—and tragically flawed—characters, including Lord Christopher Thomson, the man who dreamed up the Imperial Airship Scheme and then relentlessly pushed R101 to her destruction; Princess Marthe Bibesco, the celebrated writer and glamorous socialite with whom he had a long affair; and George Herbert Scott, a national hero who was the first person to cross the Atlantic twice in any aircraft, in 1919—eight years before Lindbergh's famous flight—but who devolved into drink and ruin. These historical figures—and the ship they built, flew, and crashed—come together in "a Promethean tale of unlimited ambitions and technical limitations, airy dreams and explosive endings" (The Wall Street Journal). - reviews
- premium: True
- source:
- content: Nicholas Boulton's smooth narration is perfect for this well-researched historical account of the ill-fated experimental British rigid airship, the R101, and the era of lighter-than-air hydrogen-powered airships. From their origins in Germany to their peak years between WWI and II, these vessels remained in production despite known fatal limitations. With unhurried pacing and light characterizations, Boulton introduces listeners to key R101 figures, including Secretary of State for Air Lord Christopher Thomson and veteran airship aviator George Herbert Scott. Boulton's keen sense for wry humor, especially apparent when relaying footnotes, underscores the absurdity of the political and military imperatives that hastened the R101's flight to India in October 1930 without rigorous testing and adjustments. Aviation history buffs will find this a compelling production. J.R.T. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
- popularity
- 1070
- links
- self:
- href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/d94ea692-3ce0-42ac-9db5-3ae71c51ad79/metadata
- type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
- self:
- id
- d94ea692-3ce0-42ac-9db5-3ae71c51ad79
- starRating
- 4
- images
- cover:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG100.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- thumbnail:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG200.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover150Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG150.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover300Wide:
- href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/5054-1/{D94EA692-3CE0-42AC-9DB5-3AE71C51AD79}IMG400.JPG
- type: image/jpeg
- cover:
- isPublicPerformanceAllowed
- False
- languages
- code: en
- name: English
- subjects
- value: History
- value: Transportation
- value: Nonfiction
- publishDateText
- 05/02/2023
- mediaType
- Audiobook
- shortDescription
- From historian and bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Empire of the Summer Moon comes a "captivating, thoroughly researched" (The New York Times Book Review) tale of the rise and fall of the world's largest airship—and the doomed love story between an ambitious British officer and a married Romanian princess at its heart.
The tragic fate of the British airship R101—which went down in a spectacular fireball in 1930, killing more people than died in the Hindenburg disaster seven years later—has been largely forgotten. In His Majesty's Airship, S.C. Gwynne resurrects it in vivid detail, telling the epic story of great ambition gone terribly wrong.
Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the 20th century, were a symbol of the future. R101 was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world's most advanced engineering—she... - sortTitle
- His Majestys Airship The Life and Tragic Death of the Worlds Largest Flying Machine
- crossRefId
- 9296055
- subtitle
- The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine
- publisher
- Simon & Schuster Audio
- bisacCodes
- code: HIS037070
- description: History / Modern / 20th Century
- code: TRA002010
- description: Transportation / Aviation / History
- code: HIS015070
- description: History / Europe / Great Britain / 20th Century