Name: The Schneider Trophy Races
ISBN: 9780701116637

Ralph Barker

The Schneider Trophy Races

Félix

A straightforward telling of an extraordinary story. The book is about one of the most exciting competitions in the western early 20th century, combining spectacular progress in aviation engineering, catastrophic failures, the development of military and civil aviators somewhere between pioneering and routinization, the evolutions of nation-states trying to promote technological boosts to their own industry.

Yet despite this, Barker somehow managed to write a book that unfortunately partly reads like a military report. The protagonists have no depth if they have any acting at all. The wide political, emotional, technological context and environment is nothing more than a descriptive framework in the tale of happenings. "X did Y and Z happened." is the main way of storytelling. There are no deep characters, no introductions to the most important actors and promoters of the race, no look at the motivation of the people involved, no historical background or context explanations. 

Unfortunately too, the Kindle Edition by Silvertail Books doesn't provide any visual augmentation to the flat literature. The editor could easily have provided additional information or help by adding available sketches or photography. 

Don't get me wrong, the review probably reads more harshly than I mean it. The language used is clear and concise, not boring or so. There is a clear chronological red thread - and most of the context to understand the storyline is somewhat given. It wasn't a bad read.

In a summary, I suggest this book if you are really interested in the Schneider Trophy and its history - and your goal is to understand what happened and who were the main actors. But don't expect much more entertainment or information than exactly that.

The Schneider Trophy Races

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