Airship: Design, Development and Disaster

Airship charts the history of lighter-than-air craft from the continental pioneers of the late 19th century through to European airship stations in the Great War, Germany's pre-eminent commercial and military zeppelins, the construction of British behemoths R100 and its sistership R101 and the calamitous losses of US Akron in 1933 and LZ129 Hindenburg in 1937, events which ultimately heralded the end of largescale airship production. The historical development of airships is seen to be protracted and fractious, as the armed forces of leading European countries and the U.S. explored commercial applications while trying to develop them for military use.

John Swinfield is a former Fleet Street and BBC/ITV reporter and producer with Nationwide (BBC1) and The Money Programme (BBC2). He lives in England.