Airbus, the true story

Pierre Sparaco is the well respected author of a column in Aviation Week on the European aerospace industry. One can find here the same tone and professionalism that Sparaco displays in his various journalistic writings. He had actually over thirty-five years of experience when he wrote this remarkable book. This is in my view the definitive history of Airbus. It's a large and well illustrated book that is equivalent to a 1000+ page standard hardcover. It is big enough and beautiful enough to qualify as a coffee table book, but it is much more than that.The story starts here in 1969 with the creation of Airbus and ends with the A380 maiden flight. It's a very complete history, including the one for the A380. Airbus had a slow start and remained in the shadow of Concorde for a number of years. But it gradually gained respect from the industry and over the years was able to impose its numerous aircraft models on the market because they offered outstanding performances and very high quality. So much so that today Airbus is considered more or less the equal of Boeing. Its slow and steady progression is described in great details in this marvellous book. Sparaco, as usual with this author, doesn't take sides and tries to explain in a neutral fashion how it was possible for Airbus to start from scratch and reach in the course of only a few decades its current preeminent position.