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To Conquer the Air

The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight

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To Conquer the Air

Written by: James Tobin
Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
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James Tobin, award-winning author of Ernie Pyle's War and The Man He Became, has penned the definitive account of the inspiring and impassioned race between the Wright brothers and their primary rival Samuel Langley across ten years and two continents to conquer the air.

For years, Wilbur Wright and his younger brother, Orville, experimented in obscurity, supported only by their exceptional family. Meanwhile, the world watched as Samuel Langley, armed with a contract from the US War Department and all the resources of the Smithsonian Institution, sought to create the first manned flying machine. But while Langley saw flight as a problem of power, the Wrights saw a problem of balance. Thus their machines took two very different paths—Langley’s toward oblivion, the Wrights’ toward the heavens—though not before facing countless other obstacles. With a historian’s accuracy and a novelist’s eye, Tobin has captured an extraordinary moment in history. To Conquer the Air is itself a heroic achievement.© 2003 James Tobin; (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. Americas Astronomy & Space Science Engineering Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology United States World Aviation War
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I have known about the Wright brothers and their short story of how they developed the airplane. However, this book fills in the story. Who were they? How dedicated to the task were they? what kind of perseverance was required?

I enjoyed the book. The reader read with the appropriate accent when reading what a Frenchman said, or a German. I learned so much about the details and the backstory of The Wright brothers. Did they have other brothers and sisters?

The Conquest of Flight

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