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

by Martin W. Sandler

Overview

From National Book Award winner Martin W. Sandler, a fascinating look at the week that brought aviation fever to the world

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 in Rheims, France. They knew they could throw a great party and sell a lot of champagne. They didn't 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 how the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne marked the public introduction to flight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547603442
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	07/28/2020
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Martin W. Sandler is the author of 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. Among Sandler's other books are the six volumes in his award-winning Library of Congress American History Series for Young People, a series which has sold more than 500,000 copies. Other books by Mr. Sandler include: Island of Hope: The Story of Ellis Island, Trapped in Ice, The Story of American Photography, The Vaqueros, America: A Celebration, and This Was America. Mr. Sandler has taught American history and American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and at Smith College, and lives in Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

The races are presented in thrilling detail and clearly placed in the context of the history of early aviation….Fascinating, eminently entertaining.” —Kirkus 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, Sandler's text delivers a solid look at a pivotal year.” —School Library Journal

“Sandler's narrative skill and eye for detail, and the abundant archival photos throughout, make for an engrossing resource.” —Publishers Weekly

“As welcome as some of 1919's beginnings might have been…many of the archival photos in “1919” capture a sense of turmoil…Sandler, 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

“Sandler emphasizes the impact of this monumental week on the future of aviation…[a] fascinating history.” —Booklist

“Impressive and highly readable look at an important inflection point in history.” —Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

2020-04-12
Oh, “those magnificent men in their flying machines”!

National Book Award winner Sandler explores one brief but momentous week in the early history of aviation. Only about six years after the Wright brothers achieved their first 57-second flight, pilots from around the world gathered in Rheims, France, in August 1909 for the Champagne Region’s Great Aviation Week (Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne). It was the first international air meet. Although the Wrights chose not to participate, the U.S. was well represented by Glenn Curtiss, whose limited experience matched that of other so-called veteran pilots of the era. They would all compete in their remarkably flimsy wood-and-fabric machines for a variety of large cash prizes, in the process captivating immense crowds and advancing aviation technology. The races are presented in thrilling detail and clearly placed in the context of the history of early aviation. A large collection of outstanding period photographs extends the tale. Unfortunately, in the midst of excellence, numerous additional topics, all about two pages long, are wedged in, nearly always interrupting the narrative midsentence—an annoying design flaw in this otherwise fine work. A final section provides a “postscript” of the lives, some sadly brief, of the aviators, mostly white and European, who participated at Rheims.

Fascinating, eminently entertaining, and sometimes frustrating. (further reading, websites, museums, sources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews