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Marc Dierikx returns to a familiar subject in this new work, an expanded version of his 1997 study Fokker: A Transatlantic Biography. Dierikx (Huygens Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy) extends and contextualizes his earlier analysis through clever use of internet and digital resources unavailable to him two decades ago. The result is a rich, intricately detailed narrative that traces Anthony Fokker's life from his early childhood through his exploits as a German aircraft designer and manufacturer in World War I, and then as a pioneer of the United States interwar aviation industry before his death in 1939. Along the way, Fokker became a multimillionaire and international celebrity and he left a permanent mark on the development of global aviation. Dierikx's story contains beautiful, descriptive prose and expertly conveys the audacity, constant risks (both personal and financial), and shameless competition of early aviation.
For Fokker, a restless maverick and inveterate tinkerer, aviation proved a perfect match—its early business model was part financial, part performative spectacle, like automobiles, and the young Dutchman always loved grand entrances and public adulation. He manipulated his media image and journalistic relationships to amplify positive media coverage for...