Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is worth $37billion (£28billion) and flies to 370 destinations on six continents with state-of-the-art aircraft. Truly, it’s a titan of aviation. But it started life as a crop-dusting outfit in 1924. And when it expanded to passenger transportation it used planes that could only hit 90mph, with the wind behind them. … Read more
Escape a sinking car, burglar-proof a hotel room and land a falling jet: Fascinating new Lonely Planet infographic book reveals how to do EVERYTHING Lonely Planet’s Bigger Book of Everything ‘prepares you for any surprising situation you may find yourself in’ The visual guide, by Nigel Holmes, includes handy how-to infographics that are in ‘bitesize … Read more
BEST OF BIOGRAPHY AND SCIENCE Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin The greatest of English novelists deserves a great biography and Claire Tomalin delivers handsomely. And what a life it was. Dickens packed a load in before his untimely death at the age of 58, burnt out by constant activity, heavy drinking and smoking, … Read more
MISCELLANY UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE by Tom Standage (Economist £8.99, 272 pp) This is what Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist, calls ‘a compendium of explanations’. It’s uncommon knowledge in two senses of the word: in the normal sense of ‘rare or infrequently encountered’, and also as in the meaning ‘exceptional and extraordinary’. In short, it’s … Read more
Dressed For War Julie Summers … Read more
Railways stretch for more than a million kilometres (620,000 miles) around the world. And some of the tracks take in some pretty jaw-dropping scenery – as these incredible pictures show. They feature in new book Rail Journeys, by David Ross, which celebrates with 200 photos the most unusual, romantic and remarkable landscapes in the world … Read more
Blood, guts and junk food! Fascinating new book delves into the lives of fishermen on trawler boats Lamorna Ash recounts the months she spent living with Cornish fishermen A playwright in London, she lodged with a couple in the village of Newlyn Almost everyone she met in the fishing village has lost someone to the … Read more