author
Baron Christopher Birdwood Thomson
1875–1930
A soldier, statesman, and air-power advocate, he moved from imperial military service into high office in Britain’s first Labour governments. His career ended dramatically in the 1930 R101 airship disaster, giving his life story an unusual mix of politics, technology, and tragedy.
1 Audiobook
Old Europe's Suicide; or, The Building of a Pyramid of Errors An Account of Certain Events in Europe During the Period 1912–1919
by Baron Christopher Birdwood Thomson
About the author
Born in India in 1875, Christopher Birdwood Thomson—later the 1st Baron Thomson—was educated in Britain and began his career as an army officer. He served in the Boer War and the First World War, and over time built a reputation that carried him from military work into public life.
Thomson is best remembered as Secretary of State for Air under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and again from 1929 to 1930. He was closely associated with British air policy in an era when aviation still felt new and uncertain, and he also wrote about international affairs and military questions.
His life ended in October 1930 when he was killed in the R101 disaster while still in office. That sudden death, together with his unusual path from soldier to Labour minister and peer, has kept him a distinctive figure in British political and aviation history.