The writing is excellent. I expect no less from David McCullough. The first part of the book is very interesting. The latter part of the book is less so. The lives of the Wright brothers are just not that interesting once they have developed the airplane. The endless demonstrations, marketing and ceremonies later in the book makes for rather dull reading.
Like many Americans, I thought I knew a lot about the Wright Brothers. Boy, was I wrong.
I always thought the only place they flew their plane was at Kitty Hawk, a site I once visited as a kid. Turns out I was very, very wrong. Kitty Hawk was nothing compared to the other places, distances and heights they flew. As one French soldier who felt himself to be a knowledgable aviator stated about the Wright Brothers, as he watched Wilber's first flight in France, "[compared to them,] We are as children."
When Wilber, and later Orville, flew in Europe, tens of thousands gathered to watch each time. When Wilbur flew down the Hudson River along New York in 1909, it was estimated a million people watched him.
As with most McCullough's works, you'll enjoy reading what he wrote. It makes it come alive in a way so few others can.
The book also contains numerous photographs describing much of what you read in the text. This includes some really awesome photographs on the end covers.
Excellent biography of the brothers who brought manned flight to the world. I know McCullough is renowned for his historical works of nonfiction and that he received the Pulitzer prize for his biographies of both Truman and John Adams. I have a few of his other works on my shelf that I really should get to. Anyway this biography of the Wright Brothers really brought them to life. Of course, every school child in America knows that they invented the airplane but the details of how they did it were pretty much unknown to me. The brothers spent years studying the flight of birds and then went on to perfect their own gliders which they did at the wind-swept sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where they concluded that it was there where the winds were most favorable and the sand provided a soft place to land. The bothers were mechanical geniuses who were able to perfect flying with a lot of hard work, experimentation, and trial and error. Eventually, they did fly using a motorized craft on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk. This event was only witnessed by a few and a photo was taken of the flight by a man who had never taken a photo before.
The brothers went on to perfect their aeroplane but had a hard time getting the U.S. government to buy into it. This led them to Europe where France and Germany became interested. I was unaware that the brothers spent so much time there demonstrating flight to vast crowds and much interest. Finally, the U.S. came around after several successful flights near Washington.
The book also provided a lot of details about the Wright family. I didn't realize that there were also two older Wright brothers who were out of the house at the time of Wilbur and Orville's experiments in flying. They also had a sister, Katharine, who supported them in their quest throughout and even traveled to Europe with them.
I highly enjoyed this biography which really gives insight into the lives of the famous brothers. Hopefully, I'll get to some of McCullough's other works sometime soon.
This audiobook was a delightful read. It is well researched and thorough. I feel as though I personally knew the Wright family after having listened to this and would recommend the book to anyone with a fascination for flight, or who loves a good biography. We owe such a debt of gratitude to the Wright Brothers for their unwavering determination and tireless energy to figure out how to get man in the air.
