Airport Paperback / softback

Airports have seen an extraordinary procession people; from Charlie Chaplin to The Beatles and even the Thunderbirds!

This book provides a visual tribute to the 20th Century, with photographs from PA Photos' archives.

It is a beautiful gift idea, alone or part of this invaluable series.

Supplanting the great sea ports as the primary points of entry to Britain, the country's airports have seen an extraordinary procession of the famous and infamous as they come and go.

Poised there, always, are the press photographers whose lives are spent capturing these moments for newspapers of the day.

None escape their lenses: Charlie Chaplin is seen in the 1930s swathed in flying helmet and goggles as he leaves Croydon for Paris and again in the 1950s after McCarthyism drove him from the USA.

Predictably, The Beatles are captured leaving for their triumphant tour of America, but less predictably the Thunderbirds puppets pose on the steps of a plane, bound for Japan!

Britain's busiest airport, Heathrow, is also the world's third busiest airport, handling the most international passengers in the world!