Race through the Skies: The Week the World Learned to Fly

(Hardback)

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Description

In 1903, the Wright brothers made three brief flights, and no one was there to watch them. Six years later, Wilbur Wright traveled to Europe to evangelicize about aviation and raise money for patents--and the world got aviation fever. That summer, a group of champagne companies organized the first ever international air meet. They knew they could throw a great party and sell a lot of champagne. They didnt know that this single week would change the course of aviation history. Through remarkable photographs, firsthand accounts, and lively narrative, Marty Sandler tells the story of this first international air meet, marking the public introduction of flight.

Reviews

Sandler's prose is vigorous, impassioned, and carefully contextualized. . . . A fascinating story, augmented by numerous attractive archival images. An entertaining and instructive look at a tumultuous year. * Kirkus Reviews *
Well researched and presented in an attractive manner, Sandlers text delivers a solid look at a pivotal year. * School Library Journal *
Sandlers narrative skill and eye for detail, and the abundant archival photos throughout, make for an engrossing resource. -- Publishers Weekly
As welcome as some of 1919s beginnings might have beenmany of the archival photos in 1919 capture a sense of turmoilSandler, a prolific historian for young readers, includes timelines that run through the present day in an effort to put the events of 1919 in historical context. * Wall Street Journal *

Author Bio

Martin W. Sandler is the award-winning author of 1919 The Year That Changed Anerica, Imprisoned, Lincoln Through the Lens, The Dust Bowl Through the Lens, and Kennedy Through the Lens. He has won five Emmy Awards for his writing for television and is the author of more than sixty books, two of which have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and four of which were YALSA-Nonfiction Award finalists. Sandler has taught American history and American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at Smith College, and lives in Massachusetts.