Atlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic - Couverture rigide

Jackson, Joe

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0374106754 ISBN 13 : 9780374106751

Editeur : Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc, 2012

Synopsis

In 1919, a prize of $25,000 was offered to the first aviator to cross the Atlantic in either direction between France and America. Although it was one of the most coveted prizes in the world, it sat unclaimed (not without efforts) for eight long years, until the spring of 1927. It was then, during five incredibly tense weeks, that one of those magical windows in history opened, when there occurred a nexus of technology, innovation, character, and spirit that led so many contenders (from different parts of the world) to all suddenly be on the cusp of the exact same achievement at the exact same time. "Atlantic Fever" is about the race; it is a milestone in American history whose story has never been fully told. Richard Byrd, Noel Davis, Stanton Wooster, Clarence Chamberlin, Charles Levine, Rene Fonck, Charles Nungesser, and Francois Coli - all had equal weight in the race with Charles Lindbergh. Although the story starts in September 1926 with the crash of the first competitor, or even further back with the 1919 establishment of the prize, its heart is found in a short period, those five weeks from April 14 to May 21, 1927, when the world held its breath and the aviators met their separate fates in the air.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

[Atlantic Fever is] a fantastically entertaining book. --Matthew Price, The Boston Globe. A soaring account of the first flight across the Atlantic . . . [Atlantic Fever is] engaging, suspenseful . . . [a] revelatory book.--Daniel Dyer, Plain-Dealer (Cleveland) By retelling the story of Charles Lindbergh's great 'first' alongside the nice and not-so-nice guys who finished last--from Admiral Byrd to Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan--Joe Jackson gives us a book that is as suspenseful as it is thoughtful. Atlantic Fever is full of wonder at what it really means for human beings to fly, an achievement in which failure is not merely possible but even probable. Plainspoken and fast-paced, exhilarating and hilarious, Atlantic Fever reminds us why we are drawn to look skyward and why it is just as important to look out below. --Scott A. Sandage, author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America Lindbergh may have been portrayed as 'Lindbergh Alone' and the 'Lone Eagle, ' but except for having no companion in the cockpit, he was far from that. Rather, he was one of a cast of players in what Joe Jackson calls 'the aviator madness that rounded out the Jazz Age.' In Atlantic Fever, Jackson brilliantly re-creates Lindbergh and the drama and tragedy that surrounded his feat. --John Milton Cooper, Jr., author of Woodrow Wilson: A Biography. With rich detail and a compelling story, Atlantic Fever recaptures the almost forgotten array of fliers and dreamers that accompanied Charles Lindbergh's solitary crossing in The Spirit of St. Louis. The world of individual daring and aspiration that followed the devastation of World War One has never come more alive.Leo Braudy, author of The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History [In Atlantic Fever] a talented storyteller re-creates the signature moment of aviation's golden age . . . Throughout, [Joe Jackson] folds in unfailingly apt observations about the psychology of --Various

Présentation de l'éditeur

For five weeks - from April 14 to May 21, 1927 - the world was rapt by the story of fourteen aviators, who took to the air to win the $25,000 that would be awarded to the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. In Atlantic Fever, Joe Jackson delves into the lives of the big-name competitors - the polar explorer Richard Byrd, the millionaire Charles Levine, and the enigmatic Charles Lindbergh, the race's eventual winner - as well as those whose names have been forgotten by history. Atlantic Fever is a spellbinding book that opens a new window into a moment when the nexus of technology, innovation, character, and spirit captured the imagination of the world.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
• Date d'édition: 2012
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0374106754
• ISBN 13: 9780374106751
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 592
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible