When Communism still ruled in Russia it could take three weeks to get a visa in London but there were other capitals where it could be made available in a few hours, on one condition – that you flew Aeroflot, which meant a Soviet aircraft. For many this seemed a price too large to pay but, as the author points out, the fleet was made up of vast numbers of a few ‘standard’ aircraft whose safety record was largely equal to their western equivalents.

Indeed the majority of the Tupolevs, Ilyushians and Antonovs had a requirement for operating from remote and rough airstrips which demanded fairly muscular construction which they often tested daily.

But this book confines itself, as its sub-title indicates, to the three decades immediately following the break-up of the former Soviet Union – which is what makes it so fascinating. Instead of endless repetition of uniform Aeroflot colours this period saw the state company fragment into dozens of localised independent Russian and former Soviet-bloc airlines each sporting its individual livery. This is the key to this enormously illustrated work with an informative narrative to match.

Particularly apposite, and what may come as a surprise to many readers as we witness a war in one of those former Soviet Republics, is just how many of these aircraft were actually built in Ukraine!

A record of an era now past but, despite the omnipresence of Boeing and Airbus, whose shadow still remains.

Philip Styles, Archivist – The Shackleton Assn.