The Magic of a Name tells the story of the first 40 years of Britain's most prestigious manufacturer - Rolls-Royce. Beginning with the historic meeting in 1904 of Henry Royce and the Honourable C.S. Rolls, and the birth in 1906 of the legendary Silver Ghost, Peter Pugh tells a story of genius, skill, hard work and dedication which gave the world cars and aero engines unrivalled in their excellence. In 1915, 100 years ago, the pair produced their first aero engine, the Eagle which along with the Hawk, Falcon and Condor proved themselves in battle in the First World War. In the Second the totemic Merlin was installed in the Spitfire and built in a race against time in 1940 to help win the Battle of Britain. With unrivalled access to the company's archives, Peter Pugh's history is a unique portrait of both an iconic name and of British industry at its best.
The Magic of a Name tells the story of the first 40 years of Britain's most prestigious manufacturer - Rolls-Royce. Beginning with the historic meeting in 1904 of Henry Royce and the Honourable C.S. Rolls, and the birth in 1906 of the legendary Silver Ghost, Peter Pugh tells a story of genius, skill, hard work and dedication which gave the world cars and aero engines unrivalled in their excellence. In 1915, 100 years ago, the pair produced their first aero engine, the Eagle which along with the Hawk, Falcon and Condor proved themselves in battle in the First World War. In the Second the totemic Merlin was installed in the Spitfire and built in a race against time in 1940 to help win the Battle of Britain. With unrivalled access to the company's archives, Peter Pugh's history is a unique portrait of both an iconic name and of British industry at its best.
The Magic of a Name tells the story of the first 40 years of Britain's most prestigious manufacturer - Rolls-Royce. Beginning with the historic meeting in 1904 of Henry Royce and the Honourable C.S. Rolls, and the birth in 1906 of the legendary Silver Ghost, Peter Pugh tells a story of genius, skill, hard work and dedication which gave the world cars and aero engines unrivalled in their excellence. In 1915, 100 years ago, the pair produced their first aero engine, the Eagle which along with the Hawk, Falcon and Condor proved themselves in battle in the First World War. In the Second the totemic Merlin was installed in the Spitfire and built in a race against time in 1940 to help win the Battle of Britain. With unrivalled access to the company's archives, Peter Pugh's history is a unique portrait of both an iconic name and of British industry at its best.
First ever narrative history of the famous aero engine that powered the Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster, Mosquito and Mustang, the aircraft that made the difference between victory and defeat at critical moments in the Second World War - the Battle of Britain and the allied aerial offensive against Germany.
This is a book about the 75 years of a very successful accountancy practice. They are 75 important years both in the history of the United Kingdom, encompassing the Second World War and all the recessions and periods of growth in the 60-year period following that war, and in the history of accountancy and how it has had to adapt to both the changes in accounting practices and in accounting technology. As you will see, the Price Bailey story is one of growth from a single partner in one office to 22 partners in seven offices, not only in East Anglia but in the City and West End of London as well as in Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Price Bailey, which became a Limited Liability Partnership in 2004, is now the 29th biggest accountancy practice in the country. Its new Managing Director, Martin Clapson, is also Chairman of the European Board of the International Association of Professional Accountants (IAPA). Many people view accountants as a necessary adjunct to their life because the law of the land demands that financial dealings, whether personal or corporate, be properly assessed and recorded and that the correct tax, if any is due, be paid. There is no doubt that Price Bailey has always been meticulous in making sure this work is done properly and in due time. However, it has also always been the practice of the firm to carry out the above in an open and friendly manner and to offer more than the mere adding up of sums. As Richard Price, son of one of the original partners and a very long-serving member of Price Bailey, will tell you in the book, the firm has always made sure that they were close to the clients and often mixed with them socially. As you will also see, Price Bailey, especially in the last twelve years under the leadership of Peter Gillman, has greatly increased the services it can offer. Most recently, it is now authorised to give legal advice.
September 1940: In the midst of the Second World War, The Luftwaffe unleashed a series of devastating raids on Southampton, all but destroying its Spitfire factories. But production didn't stop. Instead, manufacturing of this iconic fighter moved underground, to secret locations staffed by women, children and non-combatant men. With little engineering experience between them, they built a fleet of one of the greatest war planes that has ever existed. This is their story.
The present book describes the development history of turbojet engines, mainly in the web-type triangle Great Britain (USA) - Germany - Switzerland from early beginnings in the 1920s up to the first practical usage in the 1950s, before the still unbroken, grand impact of aero propulsion technology on global air traffic started. interconnections are highlighted, including the considerable impact of axial-flow compressor design know-how of the Swiss/German company BBC Brown Boveri & Cie. on both sides. The author reveals significant undercurrents which led to a considerable exchange, and thus change in understanding of the technical-historical perspective, especially in the decisive years before WWII, and thus closes gaps in the unilateral views of this ground-breaking technical advancement. The old ‘Whittle vs. von Ohain Saga’ is not repeated in full, but addressed in sufficient detail to understand the considerably enlarged narrative scope.
At the dawn of the twentieth century mankind had not yet achieved powered flight. The main motive power then was provided by steam engines – heavy, dirty and inefficient. If one wanted to travel ‘over seas’ one had to travel on them. A journey from London to New York, by steam-driven train and ship, took more than 6 days. By the time the same century drew to a close in December 1999, air travel was the normal choice for long journeys. Millions of people every day flew comfortably and safely in pressurised aluminium airliners propelled by simple, clean and efficient gas turbine engines. The same journey from London to New York could be achieved at supersonic speed in less than 6 hours. For much of that century, many of the extraordinary developments that moved aviation from fragile wood and fabric biplanes to supersonic transports were achieved on 330 acres of low-lying former estate farmland in Surrey, England. The estate was called Brooklands. Those marshy acres were transformed from 1907 into the world’s first custom-built motor-racing circuit, then a rapidly developing aerodrome, and finally one of the country’s largest aircraft factories, employing tens of thousands of people. Nearly 19,000 aircraft of many different types were built at Brooklands during nine decades of peace and war. By the 1980s however it was being eclipsed by larger manufacturing sites elsewhere, with longer runways and better communications links; its owner, by then called British Aerospace, finally closed the factory in 1989. This book tells the history of those amazing developments through 100 of the key aircraft, engines, places and other objects that can still be seen, either in or near Brooklands Museum or in other locations around the country. It also highlights the stories of six designers whose inspiring creativity produced aircraft, engines and weapons ranging from Camel to Concorde, Fury to Harrier, Wellington to Viscount, Merlin to Olympus. Between them, Thomas Sopwith, Barnes Wallis, Rex Pierson, Sydney Camm, Stanley Hooker and George Edwards were responsible for much of what was designed, built and flown, not only at Brooklands but elsewhere too. The book is arranged in successive historical episodes but the many links between the objects and the designers should allow readers to follow different paths if they so wish. It is not intended as a technical reference but rather to inspire the reader to seek out the objects and discover more about them.
It's hard to imagine a history of British engineering without Rolls-Royce: there would be no Silver Ghost, no Merlin for the Spitfire, no Alcock and Brown. Rolls-Royce is one of the most recognisable brands in the world. But what of the man who designed them? The youngest of five children, Frederick Henry Royce was born into almost Dickensian circumstances: the family business failed by the time he was 4, his father died in a Greenwich poorhouse when he was 9, and he only managed two fragmented years of formal schooling. But he made all of it count. In Sir Henry Royce: Establishing Rolls-Royce, from Motor Cars to Aero Engines, acclaimed aeronautical historian Peter Reese explores the life of an almost forgotten genius, from his humble beginnings to his greatest achievements. Impeccably researched and featuring almost 100 illustrations, this is the remarkable story of British success on a global stage.
In 1945 confidence in British aviation was sky-high. Yet decades later, the industry had not lived up to its potential. What happened? The years that followed the war saw the Brabazon Committee issue flawed proposals for civil aviation planning. Enforced cancellations restricted the advancement of military aircraft, compounded later on by Defence Minister Duncan Sandys abandoning aircraft to fixate solely on missiles. Commercially, Britain's small and neglected domestic market hindered the development of civilian airliners. In the production of notorious aircraft, the inauspicious Comet came from de Havilland's attempts to gain an edge over its American competitors. The iconic Harrier jump jet and an indigenous crop of helicopters were squandered, while unrealistic performance requirements brought about the cancellation of TSR2. Peter Reese explores how repeated financial crises, a lack of rigour and fatal self-satisfaction led British aviation to miss vital opportunities across this turbulent period in Britain's skies.
