A Triumph of Unreason

This book studies the political and economic history of the iconic Anglo-French Concorde supersonic passenger jet, from 1955 to 1978. It takes a historical perspective, but also examines the administrative and organisational issues in managing such a complex programme. It also considers the interaction between the British and French government and BOAC (the predecessor to British Airways) as a primary Concorde customer.

Many lessons were learned about the process of forging and managing this high-cost, high-visibility, technical international engineering programme. Throughout its development, the Concorde was the focus of an intense internal debate between ministers and officials, as well illustrating problematic relations between government and industry and between the UK and France. It concludes with an assessment of the political and economic outcomes that would have a continuing effect on aerospace policy.

The use of British national archives, especially Treasury files, makes this a unique study.