Slide Rule

By Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute was a pioneer in the world of flying long before he began to write the stories that made him a bestselling novelist. This autobiography charts Shute’s path from childhood to his career as a gifted aeronautical engineer working at the forefront of the technological experimentation of the 1920s and 30s. The inspiration for many of the themes and concerns of Shutes novels can be found in this enjoyable and enlightening memoir.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 12, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307474186

Reviews for Slide Rule

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is supposed to be Nevil Shute's autobiography but I would say it is more a memoir about his career in aviation. He doesn't delve into his personal life too deeply. There is nothing about his childhood, his marriage, becoming a father, or much of his writing career, for example. You don't know much about his family life/childhood, how he met his wife, when he had children, or even how he became a writer in the first place. Slide Rule is more about Shute's life in aviation; how he became a calculator for the firm of DeHavilland when they were designing rigid airships. What's fascinating is his company was in competition with the government to build airbuses. After an airbus disaster Shute founded the company Airspeed, Ltd and had lukewarm success being profitable building private planes. At the start of World War II the nature of the business changed and Shute slowly started to withdraw emotionally from Airspeed. The memoir ends with him leaving Airspeed after being voted out by the board. Meanwhile, his career as an author was just starting to take flight.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book looks at Nevil Shute's role in starting up an aviation business in the early days of that industry. While the book is very dated in terms of language and its treatment of women, it remains relevant in some ways. It shows the challenges of operating a start-up in an emerging industry; the issues caused by political imperatives and a reluctance to speak truth to power. I found the discussion of the ethics involved in writing a prospectus interesting. It's easy to see from this book how Mr. Shute gained success as a novelist -- clear, crisp writing.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Nevil Shute Norway was happy to work in Aeronautics following WWI. Unfortunately, He worked with the Airships, not the monoplanes, and his future got blighted by the 1930's airship disasters. He found, however that writing worked out better for him. This is a "how I came to be a full time writer biography," and, it seems to have been reprinted in this millennium. I recall it was clearly written and mildly diverting.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

 Interesting book. the author Nevil Shute was an engineer involved in the building of the R100/R101 and the establishment of the Airspeed aircraft building company. Concentrates on the interval between the two world wars, when he was a young man, working his way in aircraft design. Was recomended to me as good reading for how a small company grows and the growing pains it has to endure. It was actually quite illuminating in that regard.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Of major interest to people curious about the interwar history of Airplane design in England, it also has some interesting points about growing up in Britain and Ireland before and during world war I, including an adventure during his easter holidays in 1916 where he became a volunteer stretcher-bearer during the 1916 rising in Dublin.