Dr. Eckener's Dream Machine: The Great Zeppelin and the Dawn of Air Travel

This is a very well written book on the history of the great German zeppelins with focus on the Graf LZ127 airship. There are interesting details of design, manufacture and memorable flights of LZ dirgibles, and psychological portraits of the Count (Graf) Ferdinad Von Zeppelin and Dr. Hugo Eckener are presented brilliantly. I would highly recommend this book to airship and especially Graf Zeppelin LZ127 enthusiasts, and to anyone who enjoys adventure! I suggest that you pair this book with the German made DVD 50-min documentary "Graf Zeppelin", which includes both German and English language narration.

I have been fascinated by the age of the rigid airships since childhood, and have read as much as I could find on their history, but I've never come across a book on the subject as well-written or as informative as this one.The Graf Zeppelin's famous flight around the world is the jumping off-point for this story, and the author recreates it in vivid detail. You will find yourself peering out of the gondola with the other passengers as the giant silver bird floats gracefully up into the sky. You will marvel with them at the vastness of the globe below them...the endless Siberian territory, much of it probably never gazed on by human eyes before; the great expanse of the Pacific, never crossed by air before; and on across the great panorama of America.You will relive this historic journey, but you will learn much more. You will travel back to the birth of the rigid airship, the brainchild of the "Crazy Count" Von Zeppelin; you will learn of its development, its triumphs, its failures, its key role in the First World War. You will follow the story into the Golden Age of the passenger airship, as the Graf under the command of Dr. Eckener explores one new frontier after another; you will understand how the Nazi takeover in Germany changed the nature of the Zeppelin enterprise; and you will see the steps that led to the fiery demise of the passenger airship when the Hindenberg exploded in flames over the landing field at Lakehurst, New Jersey.If you have any sort of interest in airships, you should buy this book. It won't disappoint you!

I really love this true story about the Graf's flight around the world. She was huge. She was a first. She was beautiful and more. The men and women of this great venture were very interesting people. Each had played their part in the Graf's great and wonderful story. This book is a must have. Adventure is on every page of this book.We may never see the likes of this type of Zeppelin fly ever again, but you can dream what it must have been like for those involved with her flights. The author has captured it all here in these pages. Most people can relate to this airship, even today. Maybe someday, something like it can happen again. Lets hope so. Thanks. Sincerely, Rick L.

This is a great book! An interesting story told very well. 2 years after Charles Lindbergh flew New York to Paris Dr. Eckener loaded up a group of passengers and flew around the world. Non stop Germany to Japan, then across the Pacific to Los Angeles. An amazing voyage by an amazing aircraft.

A fantastic book that shares all that took place on that flight as well as details before and after.

This book is just amazing. Awesome, inspiring, and fascinating. If you are at all interested in aviation and airships this is a must have for your library.

Good book . Not as many pictures or photos as I would like

Dr. Eckener's Dream machine is a very well written account of Dr. Eckener and his airship, the Graf Zeppelin.

I saw the BBC Documentary "Around the world by Zeppelin. 1929", in 2012 based on the Graf Zeppelins round world flight, which is a large part of this book, and it really made me want to know more. So I was delighted when I came across this book. It hasn't disappointed. Lots of background to the Zeppelin story, and all relevant and interesting. The last chapter even mentions how modern airships are making a kind of "comeback" for lifting and transporting huge structures, which couldn't otherwise be moved in one piece. It's the sort of book that I will keep, and return to from time to time. (So many others I pass on to Charity shops once read, but not this one!)

An amazing story that should be much better known. Douglas Botting brings the myriad characters to life in this brief history of the beginning and the end of the classical period of luxury airship travel. He reports on the events and the people, resisting the temptation to analyse and push his own theories or views and instead, allows the larger than life characters to tell their own story by reference to letters, newspaper articles, records and other personal information. If you are at all interested in the history of lighter than air travel then I cannot recommend this book to you more highly.

Interesting book. Good service.

A superbly written account of the amazing giant German airship Graf Zeppelin. It reads like good fiction with the real characters of the time brought to life by Douglas Botting. Count Zeppelin, Dr. Echener, Lady Grace Hay-Drummond-Hay and many more,all come to life and we are privy to their thoughts as they travelled the world in the most fabulous flying machine ever built. Read the book and become party to this great experience yourself.

Me he quedado plenamente satisfecho con el producto. Es exactamente como lo esperaba. Un libro magnífico que recomendaría sin duda a cualquier interesado en el tema.