Although the first such aircraft was flown successfully before World War I, the major activity in this area was from 1919 until 1949, when the helicopter took over. I found it all very interesting and packed with information; I was not previously aware that the ungainly Walrus was, in its time, at the cutting edge of technology, being the first British military aircraft to enter service with retractable undercarriage.

There are lots of excellent pictures (hardly any of accidents!), a good index and two good appendices, one of which is about submarines carrying aircraft. I enjoyed this well researched book.