SKY HIGH!

A history of the past 400 million years of flight, translated from the Polish.

Filling every iota of his allotted page space, Ambrożewski crams in a tale that begins with the first prehistoric plant seeds evolving to whirl off in the breeze, ends by placing dazed readers aboard the sun-powered Solar Impulse 2 for its 2015 flight around the world, and in between covers a plethora of topics from the anatomical differences between bird and bat wings to flight instrumentation through the years and modern airline safety features. At the top of each spread, readers will find introductory overviews jammed into narrow spaces. Below, cartoon-style panels, some sequential, mix minutely detailed diagrams explaining various principles and technical challenges with depictions of dozens of aircraft from gliders and hot air balloons to giant bombers and experimental wingless “gyroplanes.” Interspersed throughout are portraits of intrepid aviators and inventors (including women and people of color). Endpapers depict military and commercial insignia. Though the unrelenting visual and verbal density of the presentation makes comprehension a challenge, the author’s enthusiasm for his immense topic adds more than enough lift to carry readers with him.

Best taken in bits, but high, wide, and jet propelled.