image of person or book cover 1461851543154741440.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Charles Kingsford Smith was the most commanding flyer of the golden age of aviation. In three short years, he broke records with his astounding and daring voyages: the first trans-Pacific flight from America to Australia, the first flight across the Tasman, the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland. He did it all with such courage, modesty and charm that Australia and the world fell in love with him. A tickertape parade was held in his honour on New York’s Fifth Avenue. At home, he became a national hero, ‘Our Smithy’.

'Yet his achievements belied a traumatic past. He had witnessed the horror of World War I – first as a soldier at Gallipoli, later as a combat pilot with the Royal Flying Corps – and, like so many of his generation, he bore physical and emotional scars. The public saw the derring-do; only those close to him knew the anxious, troubled individual who pushed himself to the edge of health and sanity.

'In November 1935, Kingford Smith’s plane crashed and he was lost at sea near Burma, his body never to be recovered. This brilliant work from one of Australia’s foremost biographers reveals the complicated, tumultuous life of a fascinating figure, who pursued his obsession to the greatest heights of fame and catastrophe.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Collingwood, Fitzroy - Collingwood area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 1461851543154741440.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 384p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 3 December 2018.

      ISBN: 9781760641078, 9781743820711
    • Collingwood, Fitzroy - Collingwood area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Black Inc. , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 4891399499347634835.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 400p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 3 August 2021
      ISBN: 9781743820711 (ebk), 9781760641924 (pbk)

Other Formats

  • Dyslexic edition.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

Karen Fox Review of Lainie Anderson, Long Flight Home; Ann Blainey, King of the Air; and Sir Ross Smith, Flight to Fame Karen Fox , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 4 2020; (p. 175-180)

— Review of Long Flight Home Lainie Anderson , 2019 single work novel ; King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith Ann Blainey , 2018 single work biography ; Flight to Fame : Victory in the 1919 Great Air Race, England to Australia Ross Smith , 2019 single work autobiography

'At 2:06 pm on 10 December 1919, Keith and Ross Smith, along with the air mechanics James Bennett and Wally Shiers, spied the coast of Australia, the end point of a long flight from England that had begun almost 28 days prior. A common experience for many a weary traveller today, the first sight of the coastline solidifying into view on the horizon was for these 4 men both a triumph and a relief. Landing their Vickers Vimy twin-engine bomber in Darwin less than an hour later, they were met by the administrator of the Northern Territory and the mayor of Darwin, and swarmed by an enthusiastic crowd, excited to meet the men who had just completed the first-ever flight from England to Australia. When they had left England, not quite a month ago, they had been one crew among 6 to enter the ‘great air race’ sponsored by the government of the Commonwealth of Australia; today they were the winners of the £10,000 prize, and had ensured their place in history as the first men to fly from England to Australia. Of their competitors, only one other team would arrive safely in Darwin, and 4 men were killed, 2 only moments after taking off from Hounslow to begin their journey.' (Introduction)

Flying Blind : Inside the Life of Australia's Greatest Aviator Anne Henderson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Institute Review , December no. 12 2019;

— Review of King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith Ann Blainey , 2018 single work biography
Meet the Fokker : The Tempests and Evasions of Charles Kingsford Smith Michael McGirr , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June - July no. 412 2019; (p. 49-50)

— Review of King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith Ann Blainey , 2018 single work biography

'People spent a lot of time looking for the pioneering aviator Charles Kingsford Smith. When he disappeared for the final time in 1935 just south of Myanmar, then known as Burma, he was just thirty-eight but felt ancient. Hopeful rescuers came from far and wide, but their efforts were not rewarded. Ann Blainey remarks wryly that one day the Andaman Sea may ‘give up its secret’, but, until then, Smithy’s final resting place is as mysterious as that of MH 370.'  (Introduction)

Meet the Fokker : The Tempests and Evasions of Charles Kingsford Smith Michael McGirr , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June - July no. 412 2019; (p. 49-50)

— Review of King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith Ann Blainey , 2018 single work biography

'People spent a lot of time looking for the pioneering aviator Charles Kingsford Smith. When he disappeared for the final time in 1935 just south of Myanmar, then known as Burma, he was just thirty-eight but felt ancient. Hopeful rescuers came from far and wide, but their efforts were not rewarded. Ann Blainey remarks wryly that one day the Andaman Sea may ‘give up its secret’, but, until then, Smithy’s final resting place is as mysterious as that of MH 370.'  (Introduction)

Flying Blind : Inside the Life of Australia's Greatest Aviator Anne Henderson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Institute Review , December no. 12 2019;

— Review of King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith Ann Blainey , 2018 single work biography
Karen Fox Review of Lainie Anderson, Long Flight Home; Ann Blainey, King of the Air; and Sir Ross Smith, Flight to Fame Karen Fox , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Journal of Biography and History , no. 4 2020; (p. 175-180)

— Review of Long Flight Home Lainie Anderson , 2019 single work novel ; King of the Air : The Turbulent Life of Charles Kingsford Smith Ann Blainey , 2018 single work biography ; Flight to Fame : Victory in the 1919 Great Air Race, England to Australia Ross Smith , 2019 single work autobiography

'At 2:06 pm on 10 December 1919, Keith and Ross Smith, along with the air mechanics James Bennett and Wally Shiers, spied the coast of Australia, the end point of a long flight from England that had begun almost 28 days prior. A common experience for many a weary traveller today, the first sight of the coastline solidifying into view on the horizon was for these 4 men both a triumph and a relief. Landing their Vickers Vimy twin-engine bomber in Darwin less than an hour later, they were met by the administrator of the Northern Territory and the mayor of Darwin, and swarmed by an enthusiastic crowd, excited to meet the men who had just completed the first-ever flight from England to Australia. When they had left England, not quite a month ago, they had been one crew among 6 to enter the ‘great air race’ sponsored by the government of the Commonwealth of Australia; today they were the winners of the £10,000 prize, and had ensured their place in history as the first men to fly from England to Australia. Of their competitors, only one other team would arrive safely in Darwin, and 4 men were killed, 2 only moments after taking off from Hounslow to begin their journey.' (Introduction)

Last amended 31 May 2021 14:57:28
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