Birdmen

September 1, 2014

In 1903, the long-held dream of powered human aviation was finally fulfilled by Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, NC. But the Wrights, whom Goldstone (Inherently Unequal) takes pains to portray as distinct and complementary personalities, were obsessively litigious and more intent on defending their patents than continuing to pioneer, demanding licensing fees from any other aircraft maker or exhibition flyer. When Glen Curtiss, a former motorcycle racer and consummate tinkerer and engine maker, began producing airplanes of superior design, he became the foremost target of the Wrights' ire and the primary defendant in a protracted patent dispute. It is against this backdrop of legal wrangling that Goldstone recounts that extraordinary decade of aeronautical innovation and competition during which aviation moved from experiment to spectacle to commercial enterprise. Narrator Jonathan Fried does a clear and lively job, never getting bogged down in the occasional technical descriptions. VERDICT This is an absorbing, well-written history rich in fascinating personalities. Recommend to anyone interested in American aeronautics. ["A superbly crafted retelling of a story familiar to aviation buffs, here greatly strengthened by fresh perspectives, rigorous analyses, comprehensible science, and a driving narrative," read the starred review of the Ballantine hc, LJ 1/14.]--Forrest Link, Coll. of New Jersey Lib., Ewing Twp.

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Starred review from January 20, 2014
Goldstone (Lefty: An American Odyssey) delivers a riveting narrative about the pioneering era of aeronautics in America and beyond, centering on the intense rivalry between Wilbur and Orville Wright and Glenn Hammond Curtiss. At the dawn of the 20th century, while the Wrights were experimenting with flight at Kitty Hawk, Curtiss was designing engines and motorcycles in upstate New York. The controversial meeting of these competing tinkerers, at the Dayton Fair in 1906, spawned years of legal wrangling during the course of bitter patent wars. Meanwhile, excited masses packed the grandstands to witness the world’s newest sport wherein “spectacle coexisted with death.” According to Goldstone, the implacable animus of the Wrights towards Curtiss persists to this day as a proxy feud, since “historians of early flight tend to deify one and demonize the other.” Goldstone also profiles a slew of early aviators, including masterful daredevil Lincoln Beachey and powered flight’s first of many fatalities, U.S. Army Lt. Thomas Selfridge. This is a well-written, thoroughly researched work that is sure to compel readers interested in history, aviation, and invention. Goldstone raises questions of enduring importance regarding innovation and the indefinite exertion of control over ideas that go public. Photos. Agent: Michael Carlisle, Inkwell Management.