This book traces both the upper-class and stage backgrounds of Maxine "Blossom" Miles, born in 1901, her first (and unsuccessful) marriage to a peer's son, and then her lasting marriage to Fred ("F.G.") Miles, the aircraft manufacturer.
Amongst her other talents, she was an accomplished mathem-atician, and from her early days with Fred she was very much an active aircraft designer of prewar light aircraft such as the Hawk and its many developments.
She always had an concern for other people, so during the war years her interests naturally turned more towards the welfare and further education of the staff at Phillips & Powis/Miles Aircraft; the Miles Aircraft Technical School at Woodley, near Reading, became famous for the standard of its education and its forward-looking principles.
After the sad collapse of the firm in 1947 she and Fred remained happily married, despite many severe trials, until his death in 1976.
Blossom Miles was a very unusual and very talented woman, whose fascinating story deserves to be told and taken to heart.