Mike Phipp

Wessex - for our purposes Dorset and Wiltshire, along with the western parts of Hampshire and Berkshire - has been part of Britain's aviation industry for over a hundred years. In his comprehensive new book, historian Mike Phipp recalls the area's proud heritage and details the many companies that have been involved in aviation over the years. Many well-known names are included, along with those that have faded into obscurity. The book tracks the mergers, takeovers, government specifications, wartime demand, economic pressures and brilliant entrepreneurship that made the rates of production and innovation in the area the subject of international reverence. Peacetime, and changes in the world market, led to the industry's steady decline in the second half of the twentieth century, but as Mike Phipp reminds us, the story of aviation in Wessex continues to this day. From flimsy biplanes and flying boats to Second World War fighters, jet airliners and rocket fighters - not to mention hovercrafts and UAVs - Wessex Aviation Industry is the definitive guide to its subject, and will remain a valuable reference work in the history of aviation for years to come.