Overview

Dive into the heart of wartime innovation and manufacturing through this groundbreaking book, unveiling a riveting narrative of technological mastery and organizational ingenuity. This meticulously researched work challenges conventional views of wartime production, offering a fresh perspective on the incredible efforts that drove the Allies to victory. Young's insightful analyses illuminate the strategic collaboration between the aerospace and automotive industries, showcasing their collective adaptation that created the engines powering victory. Spanning continents, Young examines the transformation of aircraft engine manufacturing during World War II. Unearthing the operations of key players such as the Bristol Aeroplane Company, Pratt & Whitney, and Wright Aeronautical, he sheds light on the monumental shift from traditional batch production to revolutionary quantity production. Readers will witness the birth of new factories, the development of advanced machine tools, and the innovation required to produce engines of unparalleled complexity and precision. Through Young's fresh perspective, the book unveils the intricate interplay of crisis techno-politics, engineering resilience, and the pivotal role of innovation in shaping the tides of history. This book is not just a study of the past; it is a critical foundation for understanding the dynamics of wartime production that continue to influence our world today.

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9781468606645

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I cannot rave enough about how wonderful this book is. This is like no aircraft engine book I've ever seen. Whereas most aircraft engine books are about engine design, testing and use, this one is about how the factories that built the engines were made: their conceptualization, organization, production engineering, construction, equipment, quality control and personnel. Young compares WWII Bristol, Pratt & Whitney and Curtiss-Wright single-row, medium-power two-row and high-power two-row engine production. He has apparently read everything ever published about aircraft engine production and has synthesized a grand view. The research is simply staggering; I've seen bits of what he presents in short trade publication articles, but it appears here in a single impressive volume with thousands of notes. This is a monumental book in almost every respect. This is a book that belongs in the library of every serious engine enthusiast. Kim McCutcheon President of the Aircraft Engine Historical Society

Author Information

Edward M. Young received a BA in Political Science from Harvard University and an MA from the University of Washington. He served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. He spent eight years as a commercial banker before joining Moody's Investors Service as a Senior Analyst, he later became a Managing Director and Group Managing Director, spending twenty years at Moody's with assignments in New York, London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. After retiring in 2004, in 2015 Young completed an MA in the History of Warfare at King's College London, and a PhD in History in 2020. Young has written 22 books and monographs on aviation and military history, including Aerial Nationalism: A History of Aviation in Thailand published by the Smithsonian Institution and The Tenth Air Force in World War II: Strategy, Command, and Operations 1942-1945 published by Schiffer Publishing.

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