The Flying Machine

People have wanted to leave the ground for as long as there are records of human ambition, and this book traces that longing through a rich run of photographs and short, engaging captions. Readers are walked through the forces that keep an aircraft aloft, namely lift, drag and thrust, and shown how each one works in practice.

The book then opens up a range of machines to show what goes on inside them, from simple gliders and colourful hot-air balloons to helicopters and jet-powered fighter planes.