Von Hardesty

Charles A. Lindbergh astounded the world on May 21, 1927, with his successful solo flight from New York to Paris in The Spirit of St. Louis. Upon his return to the United States, he received an unprecedented welcome and was regarded as a hero to a generation of Americans who looked to the skies as a field of promise and progress. Lindbergh has been the subject of scrutiny and controversy ever since.
Reflecting America's faith in technological advancement, Lindbergh saw The Spirit of St. Louis as "a lens focused on the future, a forerunner of mechanisms that would conquer time and space." This youthful optimism was later tempered by personal tragedy-the kidnapping and murder of his first-born son-and by the threat of American involvement in a war abroad. But Lindbergh confronted these challenges, often at odds with his supporters, with the same daring and boldness of character that inspired him to undertake his fabled flight.
In Lindbergh: Flight's Enigmatic Hero, Von Hardesty, curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, takes another look at Lindbergh's life and offers new insights into the man and the myths that surrounded him. Drawing from a variety of sources, he reveals how Lindbergh, though stubborn and absolutist in many ways, evolved in his outlook and world view. With hundreds of full-color images and illustrations taken from a rich variety of private and public collections, Hardesty has produced a visually stunning and fascinating biography of one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.… (más)

My parents taught me that Lindbergh was antisemitic. This book puts an end to that myth, explains the context, and why Lindbergh made no attempts to explain it away. Of course, that was just one thread in this fascinating and well-written biography.

The only thing I didn't like: It was repetitive. Felt like two (or three) authors had joined their biographies (all written in a different style) together. One story would be told in the body and then it would be repeated in slightly different wording as a page-sized inset. Some stories were repeated even more. I recall reading at least 7 times that Anne wrote "Listen! The Wind" and (inexplicably, not a single mention describes the topic of that book and no, it's not about the subject of wind). Less important characters had stories or interactions with Lindbergh described twice as well.

That said, I did enjoy the book about a person who I knew very little about.… (más)

There was in time in this country when it was thought that Black males were incapable of doing______. Fill in the blank; flight, fly an airplane, command an Army regiment. In 1981-82, the National Air and Space Museum developed an exhibit called Black Wings, to honor the Afro-American pioneers who were involved in the early days aviation. Particular attention was paid to the men who learned to fly at Tuskegee Institute and flew in segregated fighter and bomber wings during World War II. At time of the publication of the exhibit booklet, Col. Guy Bluford became the first Afro-American to travel into orbit in August of 1983. The editor later expanded the booklet into a book. It is an excellent collection of photos and stories that has been updated to the present day.… (más)