When Giants Ruled the Sky: The Golden Age of Airship Travel
Few people realize that Zeppelins carried thousands of paying passengers millions of miles without a single fatality for more than 20 years — an achievement unmatched by any other form of commercial transportation until the Hindenburg crash in 1937. And Germany wasn’t the only country vested in the success of commercial airships. During the first third of the 20th century France, England, Italy, Spain, Japan, the Soviet Union, and Argentina were just some of the many countries that built and flew airships. Incredibly, during the 1920s and 30s, the United States Navy spent millions of dollars building Zeppelins that were not only designed to protect Hawaii and California from a surprise attack by Japan in the days before radar, but promoted them as the next form of long-distance transportation competing with luxury ocean liners and transcontinental trains for first class passengers.
This course focuses on the fascinating but little-known period of aviation history, and will include remarkable photographs, first person accounts, and rare film clips of lighter-than-air flight.
A former special correspondent for the New York Times, John Geoghegan specializes in reporting on unusual inventions that failed in the marketplace despite their innovative nature. He is the author of four non-fiction books and has written hundreds of articles for such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine. His latest non-fiction book, When Giants Ruled the Sky (The History Press, 2022), was the basis for the recent Smithsonian documentary, America’s Lost Airship, in which he appeared as the on-camera expert.
This is a Livestreamed + Recorded Course
- Classes will stream live on the scheduled day and time.
- Classes will also be recorded.
- Course materials, including videos, will remain available enjoy in the Member Dashboard through May 31.
- Fee assistance is available if cost is a barrier. Learn more.
Schedule Highlights
- Course starts on Wednesday, May 3 and ends on Wednesday, May 24.
- Classes meet for four weeks, 1.5 hours per session.