Giants in The Sky A History of The Rigid Airship by Robinson. Douglas,

Hard back book with colour pictorial dust jacket, 376 pages, 8 chapters illustrated with B/W plates and drawings, bibliography, appendices, glossary of airship terms, index.

The fascinating, often tragic history of the rigid airship, the first-ever strategic bomber, long range naval scout and international passenger carrier, is related in this book by Dr. Robinson, already well known as an airship historian through his The Zeppelin in Combat, the standard work on the German Navy's airships in World War 1. 

Not only does he draw on the research that went into that volume, but also on the extensive literature in his own collection, the recent publications by other talented researchers in the same field, and his acquaintance with many former airship builders and operators. He deals with Count Zeppelin's early experiments, the DELAG airship airline which flew 10,000 paying passengers in 1910-1914, the use of Zeppelins in wartime by the German Army and Navy, the British wartime and post-war programmes, the rigid airships that served the United States Navy, and the commercial operations of the "Graf Zeppelin" and "Hindenburg", which went from success to success until the disaster at Lakehurst on 6 May 1937.

This work is the first scholarly study of all the rigid airships built in the years 1900-1940, based on all available resources, and presents a number of photographs never before published. It will remind the older generation of the glory which has departed, and convey to a younger generation some of the fascination, the enthralment, the awe and the majesty which the giant ships of the sky inspired in those who saw them.