TheR101was the ship of empire, meant to dazzle the world with her technological advancement and immense size. Faster than a plane, more luxurious than an ocean liner, theR101would connect the furthest reaches of the British Empire. It was, however, not to be.

The spectacular crash of the British airshipR101in 1930 changed the world of aviation forever. While most people have heard of the fiery crash of theHindenburg, a German ship that went down in New Jersey seven years later, the story ofR101 whose downfall killed many more people has been largely forgotten. At the time, however, the outpouring of national grief in Britain was equalled only by what happened after the sinking of theTitanic.

InHis Majestys Airship, S. C. Gwynne recounts the epic narrative of the ill-fated airship and her eccentric champion, Christopher Thomson. With characteristic verve, Gwynne paints a luminous portrait of interwar Britain and reanimates the intrepid world of early aviation.