Entertaining if rambling account of the world's only effective supersonic airliner. While it tends to concentrate more on Concorde's cultural impact then the nuts and bolts of the aircraft, it effectively covers the history of supersonic flight from the breaking of the sound barrier to the first tentative stirrings of interest from the British & French in a co-operative effort, through to the testing, the first flight, the antipathy to Concorde's (considerable) noise, the horror of the fatal accident that kileld all on board in Paris in 2001 to the final flight 3 years later. The author waxes lyrical about the supreme beauty and elegance of Concorde (from the outside anyway, the interior finish was much less grand), and details the reactions of people who flew it and flew in it. He also devotes a chapter to Concorde's rivals, the Soviet TU-144 "Concordski", which was rushed into production ahead of Concorde but paid for this premature entrance with multiple problems and a number of fatal crashes, and Boeing's 7307-200, which never got beyond a full-size mock-up. The book concludes with a look at the possibilities of supersonic jet travel in the future and is optimistic about a rebirth of Concorde. A great book for anyone intrested in the history of flight or the social phenomenon of jet travel. ( )