Air empire: British imperial civil aviation, 1919-39

Air empire is a fresh study of civil aviation as a tool of late British imperialism.

The first pioneering flights across the British empire in 1919-20 were flag-waving adventures that recreated an era of plucky British maritime exploration and conquest.

Britain’s development of international air routes and services was approved, organised and celebrated largely in London; there was some resistance in and beyond the subordinate colonies and dominions. Negotiating the financing and geopolitic...