Vantage, 1960, $?, ISBN: ?, 300 pages, hardback

It's a bit amusing to read the final chapters, which extol the virtues of jet travel and offer optimism about space travel. This is, after all, 40+ years ago. However, you can't quibble with the research into getting us to that point.

De Leeuw does a fine job tracking down the history of balloons, gliders, airplanes, jets, and rockets. That's about 2/3 of the book. The other 1/3 deals with "modern" (i.e. 1960) airline operations.

The workmanlike prose is like an old DC-3. It'll get you where you're going, but not necessarily in the fastest, easiest, or most elegant manner.

Thus, it's not a bad compilation history. Not great, but not bad.