Sir Walter Raleigh and the Air History A Personal Recollection
London: Edward Arnold & Co., 1922. Small slim octavo, blue papered boards with titling onlay, 48 pp., frontispiece. A little negligible wear affects extremities of the boards, rear cover a little scratched, overall a very good copy. An anecdotal and personal history of Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh, who initiated the 'War in the Air' series on British military aviation during the First World War. After completing the first volume, Raleigh went on an aero tour of the Middle East, where he contracted a fever which later took his life.
This memoir is written by Henry Albert Jones, who took over the project after his death. On the start of the project, and Raleigh's career at Oxford, he writes: "Sir Walter took up the history with enthusiasm. At Oxford throughout the war he had been chafing under the inactivity which was imposed on him by his age. Oxford was empty of men. There was not even a lot of lecturing to do. The Air History gave him just such an opportunity as he loved. It was an adventure, and he looked upon life itself as an adventure. He was possessed of a fine imagination, and the story of the air had for him a great appeal." This being an excerpt from the first chapter. Item #2443
Price (AUD): $160.00