On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.
In this "enjoyable, fast-paced tale" (The Economist), master historian David McCullough "shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly" (The Washington Post) and "captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished" (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is "a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency...about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished...The Wright Brothers soars" (The New York Times Book Review).
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
May 5, 2015 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781442376090
- File size: 289282 KB
- Duration: 10:02:40
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Publisher's Weekly
March 9, 2015
Mechanical invention is close to a religious calling in this reverent biography of the pioneers of heavier-than-air flight. Pulitzer-winning historian McCullough (Truman) sees something exalted in the two bicycle mechanics and lifelong bachelors who lived with their sister and clergyman father in Dayton, Ohio. He finds themâespecially Wilbur, the elder brotherâto be cultured men with a steady drive and quiet charisma, not mere eccentrics. McCullough follows their monkish devotion to the goal of human flight, recounting their painstaking experiments in a homemade wind tunnel, their countless wrong turns and wrecked models, and their long stints roughing it on the desolate, buggy shore at Kitty Hawk, N.C. Thanks largely to their own caginess, the brothers endured years of doubt and ridicule while they improved their flyer. McCullough also describes the fame and adulation that the brothers received after public demonstrations in France and Washington, D.C., in 1908 cemented their claims. His evident admiration for the Wrights leads him to soft-pedal their crasser side, like their epic patent lawsuits, which stymied American aviation for years. Still, McCullough's usual warm, evocative prose makes for an absorbing narrative; he conveys both the drama of the birth of flight and the homespun genius of America's golden age of innovation. Photos. Agent: Mort Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit. -
AudioFile Magazine
David McCullough's reading of his new biography of the Wright Brothers is a stellar production on every count, and a supremely satisfying listening experience. McCullough's calm, avuncular voice, familiar to millions from his PBS productions, is for many of us the voice of history itself. In the Wrights he sees exemplified the values of courage, character, and perseverance, which he has honored in book after book, never with such unqualified admiration as here. McCullough concentrates on the first decade of the 1900s-- the Wrights' years of labor and invention and a period of unparalleled public excitement their first flights inspired in Europe and America. The text is concise, rich in telling and illuminating detail. You feel you're not just listening, but seeing the story unfold before your eyes. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
-
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
Languages
- English
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.