Imperial Air Routes

(London: John Murray 1930. First UK edition. Very Good. xiv - 280 pages + 7 maps, the contents clean and tight with no inscriptions or marks. With an introduction by Air Vice-Marshall Sir Sefton Brancker (Director of Civil Aviation). Publisher's red cloth lightly faded to the spine and dusty to the page block edges. In the VERY RARE dustwrapper priced 6/- net to the spine (as called for). The dustwrapper is near VG with several historic repaired splits to the verso and with some edge wear to the top and bottom edges and with a triangular chip to the bottom left-hand corner of the back panel just affecting the blurb. Reviews the evolution of international air routes around Britain, India, the Far East and Australia. Includes chapters on the Baghdad Air Mail and 'The Third Route' across Europe. "The author chose an attractive title for his book, procured an interesting introduction written by Major-General Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, and compiled a suitable prologue of appropriate quotations. This book is well illustrated with excellent maps. Major Salt has shown great industry in compiling valuable data respecting the development of imperial air routes up to May, 1930." Rare especially in dustwrapper. The mid-1920s and 1930s are often nostalgically referred to as the 'Golden Age' of British civil aviation. In its sixteen years of operation, Britain's Imperial Airways developed and promoted long-haul aviation as a viable means of long-distance travel and formulated and maintained a global aerial network that ushered in a new era of post-war globalisation and mass aeromobility. Though criticised as being the product of an imperial power in decline (Ewer 2007), Imperial Airways established both the material and cultural foundations on which post-war civilian aviation would flourish and thus its importance must not be underestimated. Photographs/scans available upon request.…