



The Wright Brothers (Unabridged)
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4.5 • 217 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.
In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Picture two young brothers so transfixed by the workings of a toy helicopter that they go on to become aviation pioneers. That feeling of aspirational magic is at the heart of Pulitzer Prize–winning author David McCullough’s sweeping biography. Starting with the Wright brothers’ childhood in Ohio, McCullough beautifully connects the dots of Wilbur and Orville’s life stories—from their humble bicycle shop to the day they made history on a windy hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Every scene has fantastic details, thanks to the countless original sources that McCullough draws from. His warm and gentle narration is so evocative you almost feel like he’s recounting his own lived experience watching the Wrights take flight. Whether you’re an aviation aficionado or just appreciate the joy of a top-rate historical biography, The Wright Brothers will definitely sweep you away.
Customer Reviews
Great!
A moving true story with a surprising amount of detail and what must have been difficult to find facts. It really helps one to see and feel what the world must have been like before the breakthrough and subsequent development of powered flight. It’s easy to be ignorant to the incredible magnitude of it all back in the days beforehand, and just how impossible it seemed to most people alive at that time. I loved this book!!!
ANOTHER TERRIFIC McCULLOUGH BOOK
The story of the Wright’s, while generally well known, with McCullough’s telling, is truly fascinating. While McCullough’s voice is not strong, it nevertheless evokes both the reader’s and author’s interest in the story. Very well done. Highly recommend ….