Umberto Nobile and the Arctic Search for the Airship Italia

(Stroud, Fonthill Media, 2017) 228 pages, illustrated, maps, plans, glossary, endnotes, note on sources, bibliography, index.

Umberto Nobile was an engineer, airship designer, air force officer and pilot who became an Arctic explorer. He designed the airship Norge and flew it on the Amundsen-Ellsworth-Nobile Polar Expedition of 1926. He flew from Rome to Kings Bay in Svalbard in stages and then to the North Pole and across the Arctic Ocean. This was the first undisputed arrival at the North Pole and the first transit of the Arctic Ocean.

In 1928 he was pilot and expedition leader of the Italian Arctic Expedition in the airship Italia. The airship disappeared while returning from the North Polee. Eight of the crew and nine rescuers perished. 

A Commission of Inquiry blamed him for the disaster, he resigned his commission and spent five years designing airships in the Soviet Union.

The story is placed within its political, historical and technological context. The book includes a summary of the history of the airship from 1884-2017.

From Pole to Pole: Roald Amundsen's Journey in Flight

(New York, Skyhorse Publishing, 2014) 199 pages, illustrations, maps, plans, glossary, note on sources, bibliography, technical appendices.

This the first detailed account of Roald Amundsen's use of aircraft to explore the Arctic.

Amundsen was the most successful Arctic and Antarctic explorer of the early 20th century and is mainly remembered for being the first man to reach the South Pole in December 1911.

He realised the potential of aircraft and this book covers his activities from his man-lifting kites of 1909, learning to fly in 1914, his abortive attempt to fly Alaska - North Pole - Svalbard in 1922-1923, his near-fatal attempt to fly from Svalbard to the North Pole and back in 1925 and his successful airship flight Svalbard-North Pole-Alaska in 1926.

The Polar flight of 1926 was the first undisputed arrival at the North Pole and was the first transit of the Arctic Ocean by any means.

He returned from retirement in 1928 to join the search for the airship Italia and disappeared with his French flying boat and its crew.

A Single Daring Act

In January 1932, criminal lawyer, pilot and traveller Connor Travis arrives in Asunción, the capital of the South American Republic of Paraguay, a country of contradictions, friendly and charming people but also poverty, coups, revolutions and failed utopias. The nation is on the brink of a bloody war with its neighbour, the Republic of Bolivia.
Chance has brought Travis to this place, and a chance encounter with Paraguayan artist and architect Sophia Garcia initiates a chain of events in which he learns the exotic history of the remote country, salvages a mysterious aeroplane from the thorn forest of the Chaco Boreal, is involved in espionage and a coup and undertakes a mission that culminates in a single daring act — combat in the air above a remote fort under attack by the Bolivians.

REVIEWS

A REVIEW FROM GOODREADS

Garth Cameron’s latest offering 'A Single Daring Act', is a well-researched and beautifully written story that will captivate readers looking for an entertaining and informative account of this significant time in Paraguay, told through the eyes of a Western foreigner. Urbane Flight Lieutenant Connor Travis, a New Zealand-raised lawyer, pilot and adventurer, finds himself in Asunción, Paraguay, in the early 1930s. The country is on the cusp of war with its neighbour Bolivia. Travis makes the acquaintance of the glamorous Sophia Garcia Fuentes, and events are set in motion. As tensions over the disputed Chaco region threaten to simmer over, he is drawn into the mysterious General’s preparations for war. Travis is sent on a recovery mission involving a downed aircraft, and then on an undercover operation, which sees him travelling downriver by steamer to Buenos Aires. He proves his worth and loyalty and is granted a commission in the fledgling Air Force. Now his war-related flying missions begin in earnest, culminating in his selfless, single daring act...Cameron’s writing is well-paced, descriptive, and historically accurate. Shady characters, fascinating ex-pats, and alluring women abound...The complex history of the region is presented in a highly accessible way, always with a light touch -- never didactic. It makes for an interesting and compelling read.

I highly recommend 'A Single Daring Act' and rate it a solid 4 out of 5.

RENELL

A REVIEW FROM AMAZON.COM

‘GREAT CHACO AIR WAR NOVEL!!! This exciting novel by Garth Cameron whose setting is the Chaco War in Paraguay, whose main character is a New Zealander pilot, lawyer and eventual sailor, Connor Travis, who arrives in Paraguay aboard a cargo ship and has an incredible adventure. As a Paraguayan aviation historian and deep connoisseur of the Chaco Air War, I was pleasantly impressed by the quality of the details and the characters, some fictional and others from real life. It's a difficult book to put down and I finished it in just three days. AWESOME, honestly. For those who love to read historical novels, Garth's book will be a delight. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.’

Antonio Luis Sapienza Fraccia. Author of THE CHACO WAR, 1932-1935: FIGHTING IN GREEN HELL & THE CHACO AIR WAR 1932-35.