To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight

Best book on the Wright Bros---and their competitors---I've yet heard. Includes amazing quotes, history, personal stories, and engineering. I highly recommend this book!

I haven't quite finished this one yet, but it has been excellent so far!

Through the years, I've had an appetite for reading about the Wright brothers that has never quite been satisfied. Literally hundreds of books have been written about the two & I suppose I've worked my way through a dozen or more before finding James Tobin's version. This book provides a nuanced history of the search for answers in unlocking the misteries of flight in America as the 19th century closed and the 20th opened. Actor Boyd Gaines, always a top ten narrator, gives an excellent performance of this book which is one of the best abrdigements (oximoron) I've seen in a while. Gaines's character accents, including the midwestern accents of all the Wright family, add a great deal to the performance. Wright, Chanute, Langley, Curtis and even Alexander Graham Bell (yes, he had a keen interest in aviation) are all here and their activities are chronicaled alongside the Wrights'. A very well done book very much worth your time.

I listened to this because of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight last year. It is riveting. If you want to learn about the fascinating history of aviation, this book is a must read!

I listened to this because of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight last year. It is riveting. If you want to learn about the fascinating history of aviation, this book is a must read!