It wasn't the airplane that first romanced the public's imagination at the dawn of the twentieth century, but the great airships known as dirigibles, or zeppelins. Championing this great leap into the technological future was a visionary German entrepreneur, Dr. Hugo Eckener.For Eckener, the development of the airship, especially coming in the aftermath of the First World War, represented an opportunity to shrink the world through safe and speedy international travel. Douglas Botting's engrossing story vividly recaptures the spirit of the times, when new technologies in communication, transportation, manufacturing, and other areas were revolutionizing society. The airship reached its apotheosis with the round-the-world flight of the Graf Zeppelin in 1929. They were a source of wonder wherever they flew, and Eckener was likened to Christopher Columbus, hailed around the world as the great explorer of his day.