We recently took Life in Miniature on tour! We had so much fun finding out what bloggers and reviewers thought of this new release.
We would like to say a big thank you to Nicola Lisle and all of those who took part. Here are some of the highlights…
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Johnnie Johnson’s 1942 Diary: The War Diary of the Spitfire Ace of Aces
Air Vice-Marshal James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ Johnson, a policeman’s son from Leicestershire, was the ultimate Boys’ Own Paper character: the RAF’s top-scoring fighter pilot and wing leader par excellence of the Second World War. A one-time household name, Johnnie’s aerial combat successes inspired schoolboys for generations – myself very much included. I was not to know then, of course, that one day ‘Greycap Leader’ and I would become great friends, spending many happy days together, attending enthusiast events, lectures, and our book signings.
With November being the month of Remembrance, we all consider those who went before us and the sacrifices they made. 27th November is always particularly poignant for me as it is the date my great uncle, George Hewitt was killed during the Battle of Cambrai.
The Story Behind the Book
Back in the early 1990s, I was privileged to research, write and compile three UK airline histories: During that time I met, interviewed and more importantly gained the trust of many of the major key players in the industry. People like Fred Newman, the chairman of Dan-Air for thirty-seven of the airline’s forty-year history, William ‘Bill’ Armstrong, the founder and chairman of Autair – and so many other airlines he could not remember them all! Ed Posey, the managing director of Court Line Aviation, who took the eventual collapse very personally, Errol Cossey, one of the three founders of Air Europe, who sold out at just the right time before moving on to found Air 2000, selling that and founding Flying Colours, selling that and… David James, then the darling ‘Company Doctor’ of the City of London who was supposed to look after the banks interests, but fell in love with the smell of the kerosene and roar of the jets. They all saw dealing with me as being fraught with commercial danger – after all, most were still actively involved in the holiday business in one shape or form – but this understandable caution was balanced by their egos that wanted to be of assistance to ensure their story was told! Even so, they all tended to play things very close to their chests.
Empty Sky was never meant to be a book. But then none of the more than 130+ interviews we have conducted so far were ever intended for books; they were all filmed for TV programmes.
“What would it be like to keep a secret for fifty years? Never telling your parents, your children, or even your husband?”
Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park tells the true story of Daisy Lawrence. Following extensive research, the author uses snippets of information, unpublished photographs and her own recollections to describe scenes from her mother’s poor, but happy, upbringing in London, and the disruptions caused by the outbreak of the Second World War to a young woman in the prime of her life.
The Boeing 737 MAX, grounded since 2019 after two crashes took 346 lives, is nearing return to commercial service. But once the jet is back to carrying passengers, should you fly in it? I think not.
Tony Cartwright’s new book was published during lockdown
LATHAM’S LUCK
In his Norfolk jacket, stiff collar, tweed cap, gloves and polished brogues with a cigarette permanently dangling from his lips he epitomised early 20th century cool.
But then Arthur Charles Hubert Latham also combined show with go. Pioneer motorist, aviator, big-game hunter, explorer, man-about-town: Hubert Latham was all of these things.
One moment the sky would be full of aircraft wheeling and positioning for the best shot at the enemy; a sky full of danger and menace. The next instant there would just be a clear blue empty sky with the sun shining down on a calm and beautiful landscape. Such was the phenomenon experienced by pilots who fought in the key battles of France and Britain in the Summer of 1940.
