pt at recording the facts of development and
stating, as fully as is possible in the compass of a single volume, how
flight and aerostation have evolved. The time for a critical history of
the subject is not yet.

In the matter of illustrations, it has been found very difficult to
secure suitable material. Even the official series of photographs of
aeroplanes in the war period is curiously incomplete' and the methods
of censorship during that period prevented any complete series being
privately collected. Omissions in this respect will probably be remedied
in future editions of the work, as fresh material is constantly being
located.

E.C.V. October, 1920.

CONTENTS

Part I--THE EVOLUTION OF THE AEROPLANE
I. THE PERIOD OF LEGEND
II. EARLY EXPERIMENTS
III. SIR GEORGE CAYLEY--THOMAS WALKER
IV. THE MIDDLE NINETEENTH CENTURY
V. WENHAM, LE BRIS, AND SOME OTHERS
VI. THE AGE OF THE GIANTS
VII. LILIENTHAL AND PILCHER
VIII. AMERICAN GLIDING EXPERIMENTS
IX. NOT PROVEN
X. SAMUEL PIERPOINT LANGLEY
XI. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS
XII. THE FIRST YEARS OF CONQUEST
XIII. FIRST FLIERS IN ENGLAND
XIV. RHEIMS, AND AFTER
XV. THE CHANNEL CROSSING
XVI. LONDON TO MANCHESTER
XVII. A SUMMARY--TO 1911
XVIII. A SUMMARY--TO 1914
XIX. THE WAR PERIOD--I
XX. THE WAR PERIOD--II
XXI. RECONSTRUCTION
XXII. 1919-1920

Part II--1903-1920: PROGRESS IN DESIGN
I. THE BEGINNINGS
II. MULTIPLICITY OF IDEAS
III. PROGRESS ON STANDARDISED LINES
IV. THE WAR PERIOD

Part III--AEROSTATICS
I. BEGINNINGS
II. THE FIRST DIRIGIBLES
III. SANTOS-DUMONT
IV. THE MILITARY DIRIGIBLE
V. BRITISH AIRSHIP DESIGN
VI. THE AIRSHIP COMMERCIALLY
VII. KITE BALLOONS

PART IV--ENGINE DEVELOPMENT
I. THE VERTICAL TYPE
II. THE VEE TYPE
III. THE RADIAL TYPE
IV. THE ROTARY TYPE
V. THE HORIZONTALLY-OPPOSED ENGINE
VI. THE TWO-STROKE CYCLE ENGINE
VII. ENGINES OF THE WAR PERIOD

APPENDICES

PART I. THE EVOLUTION OF THE AEROPLANE

I. THE PERIOD OF LEGEND

The blending of fact and fancy which men call legend reached its fullest
and richest expression in the golden age of Greece, and thus it