Zeppelins

Every day there are tens of thousands of transoceanic flights. In the 1930s, the invention of planes able to traverse the Atlantic changed the world. However, there were already aircraft crossing vast oceans over a decade earlier. Lighter than air, these vehicles were called dirigibles, or, as the Germans named them, Graf Zeppelins. Illustrated with period photographs, vintage travel posters, blueprints, advertisements and colorful brochures, Zeppelins: The Golden Age of Airships covers every aspect of these fascinating and oft overlooked airships, from their initial designs through to the height of their popularity during the Golden Age of Aviation. At the beginning of the 20th Century, dirigibles transported passengers, mail and other cargo from Europe to the Americas, forever changing the world’s concept of time and space. Zeppelins: The Golden Age of Airships is a thorough exploration of these awe-inspiring feats of aviation, including: The story of Ferdinand von Zeppelin, inventor of the Zeppelin, andhis surprising involvement in the US Civil War; The military role of airships; much has been said about the aerial bombing of Britain in World War II, but little has been written of how, during the first World War, the Zeppelin was employed as a “terror weapon”; The expedition of the dirigible The Norge, the first craft to cross the North Pole; The many flights of the Graf Zeppelin, including the first ever round-the-world trip, funded largely by William Randolph Hearst; The dirigibles of the US navy and the United Kingdom; Hollywood’s fascination with dirigibles, and the role film played in romanticizing the aircrafts in the minds of the public; The infamous tragedy of the Hindenburg. Zeppelins is not simply the illustrated history of an aircraft; it is the story of a changing world. It is the story of the 20th Century, one of imagination, exploration, idealism and tragedy.

Jim Trautman grew up in the shadow of New Jersey’s Liberty (Newark) Airport and has maintained a lifelong love of aviation history. He is the author of Pan American Clippers: The Golden Age of Flying Boats (Firefly Books, December 2019; 978 0228102304) and is regular contributor to North American magazines, newspapers and television.