Product Description

The building of new airfields in the United Kingdom was a purely 20th Century Affair. Well over 700 were built, identifiable in three major phases. The First, Second and Cold Wars all exhibit distinct airfield layouts and structures, allowing the archaeologist to interpret these large field monuments chronologically. In this re-edited version of 'The Archaeology of Airfields' archaeologist Bob Clarke investigates the background of many of the UK's airfields. He asks the questions, what decisions drove their often widely differing locations, which political event effected that decision and can these by readily recognised through fieldwork. Using historical documents from the Air Ministry and other sources he uncovers the fascinating thought processes behind their construction and illustrates what they reveal about the concerns of their time. Covering everything from Airship Stations through to the conservation effort now facing the modern archaeologist, this is a history and archaeology of Britain's airfields set against the United Kingdom's varied landscape, examining the political background that saw them called into being. A must for industrial archaeologists, enthusiasts and local historians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29635 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From the Publisher
This book follows on from Clarke's original work on the Cold War first published by Tempus in 2005. Four Minute Warning: Britain's Cold War.

About the Author
Bob Clarke was born in Scarborough and currently has research interests in Wiltshire and nationally. For over a decade he worked at Boscombe Down (Britain's main weapons testing establishment) as an archaeologist where he studied the site's history, ancient and more recent. He has published widely on a number of themes including two recent books for Tempus (Four Minute Warning, Britain's Cold War & Ten Tons for Tempelhof, The Berlin Airlift). Currently lecturing on archaeological and Twentieth-Century historical matters for the University of Bath, Bob is a great advocate of public archaeology.

Customer Reviews

A fresh, new look at an old subject
I was worried I might not get this as the release date was December 2007, however it arrived last week. Ok so what can we say about this latest in a long line of books on military airfields. Well the author approaches this from a rather different, possibly unique angle. Rather than laying out the usual `what flew from where' format he has looked at the `why was that airfield built where it was'. Now this might be obvious to many who have an aviation interest, however there are many surprises. In a publication world obsessed with WWII it is good to see other periods receiving equal attention. The author takes us from the first sites pre-WWI around Salisbury Plain, the RNAS Airship station and Home Defence Squadron distribution and Training Depot Stations of the Great War. Covers the first Expansion in the mid-1920s that spawned Abingdon, Bicester and the reopening of Boscombe Down. The Expansions of the 1930s and subsequent sites across the UK for WWII. This is followed by a very useful section on the Cold War including distribution of the V Force and the subsequent hardening of airfields towards the end of the 1970s. The final chapter discusses some of the issues surrounding the preservation of `large landscape features' (typical archaeological speak) such as airfields. This nicely summarised work underway and the sites/stations already protected. There are a large number of photographs embedded within the text including some nice shots of Caldale Airship Station on the Orkneys. The distribution maps worked very well. The Advanced Landing Ground layout map was a little confusing and maybe slightly optimistic at the size presented however I did work it out. There are a few typos, but nothing that detracts from the text. And I was glad to see that the author states clearly in the intro that this book does not cover every station in the United Kingdom, but lets face it if he had it would have been the size of a telephone directory!!

So overall does the book do what it says on the tin? Yes. I spent three days reading it and enjoyed every minute. The text across the chapters is underpinned with extracts from various historical sources, all demonstrating the reasons for the airfields being built or distributed across Britain. There are some unusual stories including what happened to Stonehenge Airfield and why Boscombe Down survives today, How we re-equipped in the 1920 in case we had to bomb France, the Aircraft Storage Units and their brilliant use of the local topography and some of the more chaotic aspects of the wartime stations. The Cold War structure of warfare and how that drove those airfields retained and rather importantly what is happening now in the wake of `Options for Change'. Splendid publication with a unique and interesting story to tell, especially since the majority of stations are now closed and the majority have been built over or are about to be so.

Thorough and informative
Of all the airfield books currently availible this one has to be the best value for money (especially at Amazon!! plug plug). The text covers the usual suspects, relying on documentary evidence where possible. This leaves you in no doubt as to the authenticity of the information presented. What makes this a little different is the fact that the author lumps the entire 20th Century together and manages to pull it off. I have to say the best areas must be the Cold War aspects, something not normally put in context. And as this book hopes to be a reference work it is nicely rounded up with a chapter on current preservation issues. Some typos, as has previously been noted, could have let this down, however seeing as the publishers went bust during its production it is lucky the text made it out at all. The way the subject matter is covered makes the content well worth a read. Did you know we nearly bombed France in the late 1920s? I did after reading this!

Glad of the reprint
This is another of Clarke's works that is currently appearing in student bibs. and subsequently will be making its way to our reading list. Echoing the sentiments of previous comments, this book comes at the subject from a different angle to most. Landscape histories can be very subjective and, by their very nature, are often driven by the research interest of the author. This book resists that temptation. I believe this is a competent attempt at discussing the airfield subject within an archaeological framework and provides sound basis for discussion. Naturally there will be those who disagree, especially when noting the number of 'web based interest groups' there are in this country alone. However the author has set about the subject with gusto and produced a work that many will use as reference I am sure. Oh and the re-print has benefitted from a re-edit and is much tighter now.