Hugo Junkers did not get involved in aviation until he was 50; he had been too busy patenting gas water heaters and trying to devise methods for circumventing other peoples’ patents for engines.

I approached this book with some trepidation, but found it surprisingly readable and interesting, as well as a valuable reference work. I am left with the impression that Junkers’ place in aviation history is for pioneering metal, as opposed to wood and fabric, in aircraft construction, and for the development of thick wing sections. 

He also reminds me of another of my heroes, Vicenzo Lancia; I quote ‘he was more interested in research and in solving technical problems than in production, which resulted in superbly engineered products but not financially profitable ones.’ Both of them also produced articles that looked good, and very advanced for their time – compare the Junkers J2 and the Lancia Lambda. 
There are lots of excellent photographs, many of them from us, and I really liked the drawings (not profiles or artwork) by Paul Couper, which I understood, and which complement the narrative admirably.

This is a very good book.