Clive Irving

Despite the the title, the real story of the development of the Boeing 747 “jumbo jet” doesn’t really start until page 195 and to be honest is the least interesting part of this volume.

Where it really shines is as an engrossing tale of Boeing’s evolution from a smaller isolated company dependent on military contracts into the innovative leader of the US commercial airliner industry.

By focusing on the small group of enigmatic, risk taking engineers and managers who would literally show more bet the company on a single decision, it tells a human story to shine a spotlight on a period of industrial and technological foresight that we probably won’t see again. show less

What a disappointment. I have been looking for a biography of Queen Elizabeth II to read in honor of her platinum Jubilee and when I started this book, I thought I had found it, however, as it progressed I realized that the author was more interested in showing off his connections to the Royal Family than tell the story of her life.

There were frequent personal notes and comments, political remarks, attacks toward members of the Royal Family, and frequently it went off topic to whine on and show more on about the monarchy but not the monarch. show less

I felt mislead by the title of this book. I thought it was a book about Queen Elizabeth and the monarchy but it turned out to be more a book about the author and his various employments. Disappointing

The sub-title is: 3,000 Years of Persian History - all in 210 pages - makes it a blur.
Read Samoa Nov 2003