FRENCH AEROPLANES BEFORE THE GREAT WAR

A massive catalogue of the aeroplanes of the nearly 700 French builders who worked before the onset of the First World War Most of these aeroplanes flew - some did not, some were never even finished - but all of them reflect the extraordinary vitality and sense of optimism that powered the aeronautical world before the future of the aeroplane began to become clearer in wartime. Some of the machines appear in these pages probably for the first time in print; others are rarely seen.