{"product_id":"v-force-by-jonathan-glancey-9781838957971","title":"V-Force","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eImpressive... Glancey has written an engaging and affectionate account of the V-bombers, not least the figures who made it all possible.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003ci\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe three very different models of V class bomber comprising Britain's strategic nuclear strike force—Vickers Valiant, Avro Vulcan and Handley Page Victor—marked a radical change in post-war bomber design. From the time they first entered service between 1955 and 1957, these charismatic, high-flying jets stole the public imagination. Theirs, though, was a terrible beauty. In 1956, over the South Australian desert, Valiant WZ366 was the first British aircraft to drop an operational atomic bomb.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe V-bombers were Britain's premier Cold War aircraft. However, frictions in Anglo-American relations alongside developments in radar and surface-to-air missiles led to the Royal Navy taking over Britain's nuclear deterrent role in 1968. Despite this, the V-bombers enjoyed a second life in conventional roles, most notably when Vulcans undertook the longest bombing raids in history in the 1982 Falklands War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eV-Force\u003c\/em\u003e sets these formidable, haunting aircraft in the story of the development of twentieth-century weapons of mass destruction, military rivalries, and international politics. It is both an extraordinary ode to the V-bombers and a unique lens through which to view Britain's Cold War experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGlancey is an aviation nut who's interested as much in the technical wonder of these planes as he is in the legacy they leave in the public consciousness... ―\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEvokes that brief but intense period when Britain stood in the front line of the Cold War. Well-researched, engagingly written, and enriched with many telling details, \u003cem\u003eV-Force\u003c\/em\u003e is an elegy for the fleeting modernity of yesteryear.\u003c\/em\u003e ― \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMilitary History Matters\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48244810875116,"sku":"9781838957971","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/e77161169c389e68bc0fb823dbc740b9.jpg?v=1788122466","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/products\/v-force-by-jonathan-glancey-9781838957971","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}