Product Description

"A Vertical Empire" describes the work in rocketry and space research carried out in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s. At one time, the programme was as sophisticated as those in the US and Russia. The projects were cancelled one by one as Britain's attempts to keep up militarily with the two superpowers weakened, as a consequence of Treasury pressure and the belief that there was no economic future in space technology. Much of the material in this book has never been available before, due partly to the 30-Year Rule concerning government documents, and partly to the sensitive military nature of the work. The projects covered include rocket-propelled aircraft, large military missiles such as the medium range ballistic missile "Blue Streak", the test rocket "Black Knight" and the re-entry experiments it carried, and the satellite launcher "Black Arrow". In addition, proposed projects that could have been developed from these vehicles are covered in depth. There is also considerable political analysis of why these projects were eventually discontinued.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259896 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 255 pages

Review
"Much of the material published has never been available before, due partly to the 30-year rule covering government documents and partly due to the sensitive military nature of the work. It makes the book invaluable, particularly as a political analysis and commentary of why the nation's trail-blazing projects in space technology were discontinued." Spaceflight, Aug 2001 "It's a book enjoyed by those with an interest in engineering and the history of British technology ... there are no other books on the market about this topic and I'd still rate it highly." Popular Astronomy, Apr 2002

Customer Reviews

An excellent book and an important historical document
A Vertical Empire is a lucid and exceptionally well researched book. What makes it stand out further is it is also an easy and coherent read with many pictures and drawings. I have read the book cover to cover but still find myself dipping into it regularly. Although its an intertesting and enjoyable book, the down side is that it is also an obituary on the British Launcher program and (as the author points out) all such British programs are now utterly dead. Never the less, this is an important historical document that will, I am sure, be used for future academic research as well as popular reading. Excellent. Well worth the money.

An excellent book
This is a truely excellent read, for anyone interested in the Space race, an exciting tale of the British effort to stay within grasp of the more superior U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. The book moves fast and has managed to avoid lingering on the more technical details. An excellent book, which I would not hesitate to reccomend.

This book is amazing- buy it!
This is an amazing book, which tells us of the thrilling tale of the space race. I cannot here describe how brilliant this book is, you just HAVE to read it! The author seems a authoritive, nice fellow, who describes the tale in an informative yet witty manner. BRILLIANT!