The First Non-stop Flight Across the Atlantic Ocean and Into the Future

The Big Hop

'One of the most astonishing moments in aviation history finally gets its due in The Big Hop, a vivid and utterly compelling account of the 1919 contest to cross the Atlantic by plane. David Rooney is an expert storyteller with a big heart, capturing not only the perils faced by the intrepid airmen who attempted the flight, but also their humanity'

John Lancaster, author of The Great Air Race

Praise for David Rooney: 
 
'About Time is abundantly clever, with myriad fascinations on every page'

'Fascinating ... it’s to Rooney’s credit that although he clearly knows a colossal amount about clocks, he wears his learning very lightly'

Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps

'A fascinating volume on what clocks say both to us and about us ... full of riches ... a valuable intellectual journey at a moment ripe for contemplation'

'David Rooney is an expert storyteller with a big heart, capturing not only the perils faced by the intrepid airmen who attempted the flight, but also their humanity' JOHN LANCASTER, author of The Great Air Race 
 
Newfoundland, 1919. Buffeted by winds, an unwieldy aircraft – made mainly from wood and stiff linen – struggled to take off from the North American island’s rocky slopes. Cramped side by side in its open cockpit were two men, freezing cold and barely able to move but resolute. They had a dream: to be the first in human history to fly, non-stop, across the Atlantic Ocean. But there were three other teams competing against them, and as the waves raged a few miles below, memories of wartime crashes resurfaced . . . 
 
It was just over six months since the ‘War to End all Wars’ had come to its close. Between them, the seven young aviators who would get off the ground for the transatlantic race had already defied death many times. Mining letters, diaries and evocative unpublished photographs, David Rooney’s deeply researched account of the audacious contest shows how it was the airmen’s thrilling wartime experiences that ultimately led them to the ‘Big Hop’, and brought old friends together for one more daring adventure. 
 
These Atlantic pioneers weren’t scientists or stoical upper-class officers. They were ordinary, working men, risking their lives in the name of progress. Unjustly forgotten by history, they nonetheless paved the way for the Earharts and Lindberghs who came after – and ushered in the age of global connection in which we live now. 
 
A non-stop flight across the Atlantic might seem routine today; almost a chore. But it is only possible because of those who went first.

David Rooney

A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks

The measurement of time has always been essential to human civilization, from early Roman sundials to the advent of GPS. But while we have one eye on the time every day, are we aware of the power clocks have given governments, military leaders and business owners, and how they have shaped our lives and our world? 
 
In this spectacularly far-reaching book, David Rooney narrates a history of timekeeping and civilization in twelve concise chapters. Over their course, we meet the most epochal inventions in horological history, from medieval water clocks to Renaissance hourglasses, and from stock-exchange timestamps to satellites in Earth's orbit. We discover how clocks have helped people navigate the globe and build empires, but also, on occasion, taken us to the brink of destruction. 
 
This is the story of time, and the story of time is the story of us.

David Rooney

About Time

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

More books from this author