'The period immediately before the Second World War was a particularly crucial one, which saw the industrial capacity put in place to underpin Britain's air effort during the conflict. The author examines the relationship between industry and the state at a time when increasing tension resulted in large government contracts. Simultaneously, however, conflicting political aims, for example the immediate desire for large shop-window deterrent forces as opposed to the longer-term need for war-capable air forces, produced contradictions in official policy. These in turn induced strains in the relationship between government and industry, and within the machinery of state itself. Ritchie explores these varying factors using not only the official papers on which much existing scholarship has been based, but also surviving company papers. The result is an admirably balanced account.' From the Editor's Foreword