The history of the Whittle jet has become part of the folklore of British design and development.

In researching this book, I sought to analyse the real history of the Whittle project, and particularly the reasons for the acrimony that followed the nationalisation of Whittle's company, Power Jets, in the late stages of WW2 and the failure of Whittle himself to influence the subsequent, impressive post-war development of the jet in the UK.

Whittle maintained that he was held back by lack of government support but my account argues that Whittle's innovative excellence, his charm and his charisma in fact helped him recruit major support from the British government and the RAF for his ambitious idea - to build a jet engine - at a time when to do so made little sense. The problems that the project then met, and the ensuing nationalization of the company, resulted, I show, largely from the problems of Whittle's own team, and not from government indifference. For this study I conducted historical research using numerous archives, such as the Public Record Office/National Archives, the RAF Museum and the Science Museum. I complemented this analysis with accounts from former colleagues of Whittle in his venture, as well as government servants and individuals from the mainstream aero industry.

This oral history component was vital in establishing the real events behind the delays, threatened cancellations and bad feeling that had hitherto been simply the subject of rumour or speculation. In all cases, I used these recollections to triangulate and amplify the official records.