Icarus - The Life of Freddie Laker (Hardback)

Sir Freddie Laker was Britain's first great entrepreneur and the man who changed the life of so many people by allowing Americans to fly to London and Britons to fly to New York at prices they could afford. He also unwittingly created the low-cost airline sector and saw his example followed to great effect by Herb Kelleher, Stelios Haji-Ionnau and Tony Ryan. Laker paved the way for them and got governments and rival airlines to see that there was a place in the world for airlines that sold its seats like supermarkets sold groceries. In the process he built Laker Airways into Britain's second largest airline flying millions of passengers across the Atlantic every year. But in the process he made himself many enemies amongst the establishment and they conspired to bring him and his airline down one very dark day in February 1982. This is that story how one man soared so high and then fell so low. It is the story of Britain's greatest ever entrepreneur and his adventures in the airline business.