Customer Reviews

Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had the opportunity to meet the primary author of this book (Tom King) recently and was impressed with his fact-based approach to the Earhart mystery. This book describes the search for artifacts from Earhart's last flight. The book presents evidence, analyzes its value and develops a hypothesis concerning the events of July, 1937. The author is primarily a archeologist, and while no "[fool]-proof" evidence is presented, what is known is presented and explained in scientific, but easy to read prose. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. My only nits with it are the reproductions of many of the photographs are poor, however, they can all be found at the TIGHAR web site.

"Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?", Udated 2004 Ed., Thomas F. King, et al., AltaMira Press, NY 2001, ISBN: 0-7591-0131-0, PB 374 pgs., plus 23 pg. Notes, 9 pg. Biblio., 20 pg. Index, & 104 B & W photos, illus. or maps., 6" x 9".

This is an academic work by a contingent of skilled scientific experts whose writings & basic investigative work was coordinated, in part & on behalf of TIGHAR (Int. Group of Historical Aircraft Recovery) & updated 2004. The 27 chapters describe a forensic approach to solve the mystery of aviatrix AE's disappearance enroute 2,223 miles to Howland Isle from Lae, New Guinea, July 2, 1937.

The book's format & length makes for difficult reading: -- it is based on best available scientific evidences & hypotheses of multiple disciplines of archeology, geophysics, aeronautics, anthropology, and review of both private & governmental archival information in addition to tabulating their search findings on tiny remote South Pacific Phoenix Isle "Gardner", but renamed Nikumaroro, or "Niku". Author was a principle TIGHAR investigator taking part in expeditions to Niku, & he writes with authority, -- having "been there, done that!"

Inclusion of more than 100 photos, illustrations, maps, etc., makes the reading more easily understood & tolerable: -- for it is not a book one picks up and being enchanted 'reads from cover to cover' without pause. For readers who want an up-to-date analysis of AE's disappearance this book is best read after the reader is thoroughly familiar with AE's character, avocations, skills, life experiences's and accolades by the press, politicians & the powerful, -- for Amelia was a complex person living in exciting, changing times on the cutting edge of new technologies.

Many of the chapters begin with stanzas of word parodies to be sung to certain melodies, attributable to TIGHAR but not author King. The parodies I found to be highly irregular, unsettling & not in best taste, so downgraded book from 5* to 4*.

Who says historical research and science have to be boring? In Amelia Earhart's Shoes, Dr. Tom King and others take us on a winding (sometimes loopy, even!) journey that tries to answer the question: What happened to famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart and renowned navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 after they vanished during her around-the-world flight attempt?

Amelia Earhart's Shoes does not pretend to solve the mystery - it does show that by applying the scientific method to a popular event, you can strip away all the myths and fables and assumptions and come up with relatively simple explanations that can be tested to see if they are true or false. That the scientific method may upset a few of those legendary apple carts along the way is proof that it works - something is either true or not true, provable or not provable. In Earhart's case, the truth may turn out to be much more mundane than some of the more colorful "solutions" to her disappearance would have us believe.

There is a lot of information in Shoes, but it is presented in an easy to read, almost chatty style (think ghost stories around the campfire while making s'mores) that keeps you turning the pages to see what the heck is going to happen next. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) has now been to the South Pacific eight times to try and prove or disprove their hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan missed their destination, tiny Howland Island, and landed on another deserted island, only to die (or perhaps be completely missed) before the frantic searchers could get to them.

Amelia Earhart's Shoes is a great read that should be on the bookshelf of everyone interested in what really did happen out there in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean almost 70 years ago.

This is an absolutely fantastic book!! It is extremely well written in a very readable and friendly style. It describes the search for evidence to support the hypothesis that Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan wound up on a certain island in the Pacific after radio communication between her and her contacts near and around Howland Island was lost on 2 July, 1937. The four co-authors of this book are all scientists who have been very careful in applying the scientific method in this historical/archaeological research project. Well illustrated with photographs and diagrams, this book is a must read for anyone interested in Amelia Earhart and her fate, in history of the mid-twentieth century, in how scientists work or simply in great detective stories. Very highly recommended!!

I do not say this often, and I read a lot of books, but I had a hard time putting this one down. I know enough about Amelia Earhart to make a 30 second discussion, so I came at this with pretty fresh eyes. While deciding whether or not to purchase this book, I read many of the differing theories on her disappearance and the reactions to those theories (some quite vehement), and honestly feel like the authors gave a great description of the mystery and the available data.

I am of a scientific background and found the discussion coherent and the assumptions and theories logical. I would have liked a little more meat on the bones, so to speak, but the authors are living by donations to make whatever research opportunities they can - so it's okay. The presentation is scientific enough to satisfy nitpickers like me, but is definitely written for the layman. The tempo and style of the writing is very smooth, casual, and even self-deprecating at times. There were some very minor editing mistakes and presentation issues (my only real reason for not giving 5 stars), but forgivable, being a smaller publisher. If you liked the thought process and detective work of something like Jared Diamond's "Collapse" - but wanted something MUCH smaller or much more easily digested - this is a good choice. Not nearly as strict, detailed, or complete as "Collapse," but the same basic archeology and investigation principles.

Given that there was such (healthy) discord on the data and fieldwork, four authors, and competing groups - this book easily has one voice and should be well received by the other Earhart-philes out there. Kudos to the authors!

For years, the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance has intrigued me. The likely story seems to be that she went down in the sea, never to be found again, but every once in a while, another bit of evidence crops up and implies there is more to the story. How, then, could I ignore "Amelia Earhart's Shoes"?

Written by a team of researchers, the book poses many questions right up front and provides transcripts from Earhart's fateful last few radio transmissions. They raise issues about Gardner Island, which could have been a logical emergency landing site, a theory made more likely by the bits of Plexiglas, steel, struts, shoes, ashes, and so forth, found on the island's shores and among the dense trees and foliage. The book peels back the layers like a good mystery novel, revealing new clues that sometimes turn out to be red herrings, and leading to deeper questions related to the island's native and military past. In the same way the researchers have spent years trying to unravel this story, with triumphs and disappointments, they lay it all out for the readers to experience the same emotions of the archaeological and historical struggle.

The narrative is full of facts and details, yet written in a style that is sometimes conversational and occasionally even tongue-in-cheek. We get a sense of the hard work, frustration, and crazed moments in the blistering heat that have defined the researchers' last two-plus decades.

All in all, it's a valuable piece in the Earhart puzzle, honest, hopeful, albeit incomplete. The mystery is not yet solved. There is more work to be done.

I saw one of the people involved in this project speak at EAA's big national air show in Oshkosh, WI last summer. It was the most popular lecture session I attended while I was there. Interested, I picked up this book expecting a thorough but dry, academic read.

Was I ever wrong! This book is not only fascinating, it's funny! It's written with some dry humor that made me want to keep reading more. And the authors lay out a strong argument, to boot. It does make one wonder...

This book is an excellent marriage of a good mystery and a scientific report. I find the appoach of the authors much more satisfying than those who claim to have "solved the mystery" based on interviews with "witnesses" removed a generation or more from the possibility of seeing first-hand anything that would be applicable to the search for Earhart. The best book on Amelia Earhart's disappearance so far.

So many science-oriented books are boring, boring, boring - which partially explains the appeal of all of that UFO-abduction literature. This book, while sticking close to the science supporting its tentative conclusions, is funny, witty and engaging from beginning to end.

I picked up this book at my library on a lark. I've always been interested in what really happened to Amelia Earhart, but always just assumed that her plane crashed into the ocean. This book, however, completely opened my eyes to a new hypothosis: that Amelia and her navigator managed to land on an island and send out radio signals for help. The information presented in this book isn't just wild guesses and conspiracy theories - the authors make a point of backing up their thoughts with cold, hard evidence. I was hooked from the first page and got so engrossed that I ended up not doing my work at my job just so that I could finish a few more chapters. The book also has a wicked sense of humor and debunks the myth that scientists are just stodgy old guys. I'd reccomend this book to anyone with even an ounce of curosity. I'm holding my breath until Dr. Tom King and the other authors put out another book on Amelia. I can't wait to see what they find!