The Wright Brothers: The Aviation Pioneers Who Changed the World - Hardcover

Mackersey, Ian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316861448 ISBN 13: 9780316861441

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company, 2003

Synopsis

The conquest of the air at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on 17 December 1903 was one of the supreme achievements of the 20th century. Two unknown American bicycle mechanics, Wilbur and Orville Wright, launched that day the first successful powered aeroplane, changing the world for ever. On the centennial of the historic first flights, biographer Ian Mackersey offers this study of the lives of these eccentric geniuses. Their brilliance unlocked the secrets of mechanical flight to realize one of man's oldest dreams. Mackersey brings to life a family swept up in the fame, jealousies and law suits that exploded around them - the domineering figure of their father, Bishop Milton Wright, whose church wars raged distractingly alongside the process of invention, and their feisty, adoring sister, Katharine, whose marriage led Orville never to speak to her again. Mackersey's narrative also explains accessibly, the aerodynamic breathrough that had defeated inventive minds for centuries.

About this title

Review:

'His biography turns their heady science into a gripping intellectual thriller' -- The Guardian

'Intriguing . . . it’s hard to imagine who wouldn’t find it absorbing to read' -- Financial Times

'Mackersey constructs a narrative of considerable dramatic power' -- History Today

'This is a wonderful human story, set in the most romantic era of invention the world has ever known' -- The Sunday Telegraph

'an excellent writer' -- The Independent

About the Author:

Ian Mackersey is a writer and documentary film- maker, whose biographies of the beautiful reclusive pilot Jean Batten, the 'Garbo of the Skies', and of Charles Kingsford Smith, were highly acclaimed.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0316861448
• ISBN 13: 9780316861441
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416