1915. German Zeppelin airships were bombing London and flew too high up to be shot down. But they did have one major weakness. They were filled with explosive gas. The Zeppelins were about to get their payback! This is the highest book band level set in the WOW! Facts collection; it is aimed at pupils with a reading age of 9.5-10 and an interest age of 10-14. Created with the look and feel of a 'real' book, complete with contents and index, as well as short sentences, line spacing and a clear format, the titles in this set are designed to be both appealing and accessible. There should be something for everyone with a wide range of topics from music and fashion and modern art to predators of the land, sea and freshwater rivers.

When Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin's rigid airship LZ 1 flew over Lake Constance in 1900, it was the most advanced and impressive flying machine in the world: a colossal, lighter-than-air craft capable of controlled flight. In World War I, Zeppelins were first used in a reconnaissance role, but on 19 January 1915 Kaiser Wilhelm II authorised their use in bombing strategic targets in England. From then on, 'Zeppelin' became synonymous with terror to the British, and indeed the airship's effectiveness was more psychological than material. Still, their raids compelled the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service to embark on a program of modernising their aerial defences, accelerating a process that would ultimately make the aeroplane, rather than the airship, the paramount flying machine of the war. Using specially commissioned artwork, contemporary photographs and first-hand accounts, this book tells the fascinating story of Britain's first Blitz, from the airships who terrorised the public to the men who sought to defend the skies.

When the Wright Brothers made their first flight in the early years of the twentieth century it sparked the imagination of those who wanted to fly, both in their country and around the world. In Britain, however, the spark wasn't strong enough to light a fire and it was in other parts of Europe, notably France, where flight began to develop seriously.Early pioneers of flight faced a high level of danger and many died in pursuit of fulfilling their dream. Although aircraft design had made incredible progress by the time of the outbreak of war, accidents still occurred on a regular basis. For some time, as many pilots died in accidents as they did in combat. This publication consolidates a range of stories, insights, and facts that, when combined, offer a vivid impression of events as they unfolded. The chaos stirred up during the First World War and the scramble to develop aircraft in response to the threat to homeland security is eloquently relayed, as are the battles that characterized this conflicted era. The reality of conflict gave aviation engineers and designers the opportunity to test their craft in the harshest of environments, pushing the benchmark ever higher in terms of what could be achieved. Sure to appeal to aviation enthusiasts and historians alike, this work offers the reader a full account of the developmental early days of flight.

Conventional wisdom suggests that the Allies and the Soviets were the only side in the Second World War to support resistance movements. This book shows that Hitler had his own version of the SOE and the OSS, and that the Nazis too encouraged underground resistance against their enemies, especially as Europe was liberated in 1944-5.