While airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines became synonymous with service and reliability around the world, one airline in South America was enjoying similar status within the Americas. Varig began life in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, following the vision of a German immigrant. The company, founded in 1927 in the city of Porto Alegre with a small seaplane, soon began to expand its route network beyond Rio Grande do Sul and into the more remote areas of Brazil. In 1945, the Ruben Berta Foundation was set up, which allowed the company's shareholding to be distributed amongst all its employees, a situation almost unique in aviation. For almost 80 years, until it was wound up in 2006, Varig continually expanded its network, both in Brazil and around the world, introduced the Air Bridge between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and set up a round-the-world cargo network. During its existence, Varig operated more than 30 different types of aircraft. Illustrated with over 140 photographs, this book details Varig's origins, its growth and the reasons it eventually went out of business.

The 125, with its various prefixes, was first conceived in the 1960s. Initially the response was lukewarm, but as the benefits of individual jet travel began to become apparent, particularly in North America, the orders began to arrive. This mid-cabin size business jet had a huge appeal to the corporate business market, and its list of operators read like something out of the Forbes 500. It was also sold widely to the military market and was the first western aircraft ever to achieve full certification in the former Soviet Union. This fully illustrated book looks at the development and history of this hugely popular jet.

The vision of Alliott Verdon Roe and his team in designing and building the 748 resulted in a highly successful commercial airliner, that since the 1960s has been responsible for opening new air routes in many corners of the world. Many of the airstrips into which the 748 formerly operated are now fully fledged international airports, with paved runways, sophisticated air traffic control and navigation equipment, and shops, but it was not always this way. In the early days, the 748 proved its worth worldwide by operating on dirt airstrips and at high elevations and temperatures. Spanning a period of almost 30 years, this book sets out to illustrate some of the many operators of the type, from the initial Series 1 to the final Series 2B. Fully illustrated with over 100 photographs, many of which have not previously been in the public domain, this book dives into the history and global impact of the Avro 748. 100 illustrations

Cubana has had to adapt to a number of different scenarios, from its early days as a flying club, through the heady days of the 1940s and 1960s, when its nation became America’s party island and the country was taken over by Fidel Castro, which turned the politics of the country on its head. Suddenly, Cuba’s best friend, the Soviet Union was 6,000 miles away and all connections to its nearest neighbour, the USA, were cut, and the country was, in effect, closed off from the rest of the world. In the 1980s, the country once again began to open to tourism, and in more recent years, relations with the US, but, through all this, Cubana has sought to keep the island connected to the rest of the world, with equipment sourced from both the Soviet Union and Europe. This book will tell the story from the beginning until the present day.

Walter Stansell of Straffordville, Dan Sarazin of Golden Lake, and Henry Taylor of Bancroft did what they had to do to preserve some of Canada's rural history. Stansell preserved the age of steam by building working models of machines used during the past century. Master canoe make Dan Sarazin (Chief White Eagle) has given many hours of his time to the preservation of old Native skills. Taylor still builds hand hewn log cabins, splits his own shingles with pioneer tools and carves reminders of early days in the bush. These three extraordinary men have done more than salvage some of Canada's past. Each in his own way actually made history at the Grass Roots level.

Through extensive research involving oral history and the uncovering of a wide range of materials, i.e. vintage photographs, diaries, maps and sketchbooks, Barry Lloyd Penhale, journalist and broadcaster, has assembled an outstanding archival collection of Canadiana.

In recalling colourful and courageous characters and communities of bygone eras, the publishers hope to partly fill the vacuum so long apparent in the preservation of our distinctive heritage.