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Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air

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Kathleen Winters has written fascinating book of Anne Morrow Lindbergh from both a historical and a feminine point of view. Taking her cue from Anne's own diaries and journals, she reveals that Anne was a person in her own right. She is not merely a follower of Charles, she is his right-hand woman,fearless in a world that has yet to be conquered. Aviation was in its infancy when she and Charles undertook the mission to discover possible routes to the far corners of the earth. Traveling over the Arctic Circle with them you can almost feel the bone-chilling cold experienced in their frail craft and you can feel the excitement as they are welcomed in exotic places. The maps themselves tell the incredible story of their journeys. I felt almost as though I were experiencing the cold of the Arctic and the fear that anything could happen as they were so out of touch with those on the ground. Anne's mastery of the Morse code was an invaluable asset as they crisscrossed the Atlantic, traveling to places we consider a normal journey now. The book opened my eyes to what a daring person she was. Factual and Fascinating!

This book works on several levels. It is a character study of the young Anne Morrow as she grows into a woman, marries a man the world worships, shares his adventures, and discovers her own voice through writing.

Simultaneously it is a graphic description of her flying career. Using the Lindberghs' logs, which previous authors ignored, Winters creates a picture of how aviation forged a deep bond between them. The author, a professional pilot, draws on her knowledge to vividly portray this neglected side of Anne Morrow's life.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh may be better known as an author, and the wife of Charles, than as an adventurous pilot. Other books cover her later work in much more depth. But it is flying that gave her the subject matter to begin her professional writing, and underpinned the rest of her life. The author tells this part of her story, and tells it well.

This biography is an enlightened and fun read about an unassuming woman who flew when civil aviation was in its infancy, with air routes nonexistent until charted by pioneers like Anne and her husband Charles Lindbergh. Flying their single-engine plane, the Lindberghs traveled across oceans to five continents during the 1930s. They understood that aviation was more than dangerous attempts at setting records, but instead could provide reliable, speedy, and safe travel--except for hazardous weather conditions. Foul weather was a demon they struggled with throughout their flights, writes Kathleen Winters. She describes a leg on their Atlantic survey: "The flight would become another battle in rain, fog, and low ceilings--lasting nearly four hours. . . . Anne, meanwhile, desperately radioed for weather conditions." Winters, a pilot herself, uses her own aviation background to bring to life the book's many flying scenes. Also depicted are the conflicts Anne endured because of long absences from her family while flying as a committed partner with Charles. Ambitious and adventurous, Anne became a bestselling author after she ended her flying career. I found this biography entertaining and a page turner, moving quickly from one chapter to the next.

The compelling jacket photo of Anne Morrow Lindbergh sets the stage for a book that you will find difficult to put down. An absorbing narrative describes the major contributions of this celebrity, a little known aviation pioneer who began her flying career when she married Charles Lindbergh. I enjoyed discovering the interesting family backgrounds of both Charles and Anne.

Anne had decided to be involved in aviation before meeting Charles Lindbergh. She became a competent power pilot but most people are unaware that she was the first woman and tenth American to hold a first-class glider license. Even more intriguing, she became a competent radio operator and Morse code operator. The safety and success of the many long Lindbergh flights were due in large part to her navigation skills and radio skills in addition to her co-pilot duties. Kathleen Winters' description of their harrowing adventures as they flew untested routes above the Arctic Circle, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean causes one to wonder why they survived when so many other aviation pioneers died as a result of their efforts.

There was a time when Charles Lindbergh was the most famous man on Earth. His 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic caught the world's imagination and the public couldn't get enough of him. When he decided to get married he made looking for a wife into a project. Anne Morrow was the daughter of a wealthy and prestigious family and while Anne didn't quite take to Charles at first, it wasn't long until she was caught up in his charisma and the thrill of flying, and they were soon married.

Kathleen Winters has given us a very interesting biography of Anne that necessarily includes material on Charles, but usually from Anne's perspective. The subtitle of the book is "first lady of the air" and most of the book is about Anne's achievements as a pioneering woman in powered flight and gliding. The majority of the book focuses on two major expeditions Charles and Anne made to Asia in 1931 and all around the North and South Atlantic in 1933. Anne was not just along for the ride on these long and dangerous trips to open flying routes around the globe. As Charles noted when asked about taking his wife along on these hazardous flights, "she is crew". Anne operated the radio, used Morse code, and much more. The radio in those days was much more art than the standard technology it has become.

Winters provides great maps of these great journeys along with some terrific photographs. The revolutionary nature of these flights is made clear by the medal Anne was given by the National Geographic Society for her part in opening air routes around the globe.

While the book does cover the major biographical details including the kidnapping and murder of their firstborn with the subsequent trial of Hauptmann, everything but the flying is covered in short form, but all the major points are touched on.

I found Winters' treatment of Charles being given Service Cross of the German Eagle by Goering most interesting. It has become usual to bash Lindbergh for accepting this award, but the accusers rarely put the event in context. It happened only a few weeks after the "peace in our time" four-way pact signing between Britain, France, Germany, and Italy and weeks before Kristallnacht. The Lindbergh's had stopped in Germany for eighteen days after a trip to Russia. The presentation was made without warning or announcement at a men's only dinner at the American Embassy and at the time neither Charles nor the other men at the dinner thought much about it. Afterwards, Anne expressed her concern that the white cross would become an albatross around his neck. After Kristallnacht occurred, Charles wrote in his journal, "My admiration for the Germans is constantly being dashed against some rock such as this."

Winters also provides very interesting information about Anne's efforts and success as an author. I have not yet read any of Anne's writings, but this book has piqued my interest in seeking them out.

This is a most interesting book about a talented an intrepid women who held her own in a marriage to one of the great historic characters of the 20th Century. Her life is instructive, inspiring, and very much worth knowing. Winters' has written an honest and interesting look at her life and accomplishments. I recommend that you get a copy and enjoy it.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

"Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air" illuminates the aviation career of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who is more often remembered for her literary success later in life. But aviation consumed Anne's time, directed her relationship with her husband, and gave her much joy and satisfaction in the early years of her marriage to celebrated aviator Charles Lindbergh. Author Kathleen C. Winters, aviation historian and pilot herself, approaches this subject that has been largely neglected by Anne Lindbergh's previous biographers with an empathy for Anne Lindbergh's elation at the experience of flying and respect for her many accomplishments as a pioneer woman aviator and as an instrumental partner in husband Charles' groundbreaking survey flights in the 1930s.

We are introduced to Anne Morrow Lindbergh mid-flight during the Lindberghs' 1933 Atlantic Survey flight for Pan Am, for which Anne acted as radio operator and relief pilot, roles she regularly played while Charles' position at Pan Am called for frequent long and perilous journeys all over the globe to chart potential air routes. From there we revisit the early lives of Anne Morrow and Charles Lindbergh to learn how these two people of disparate personalities and backgrounds married and formed a formidable aviation team. Winters follows Anne's experiences and accomplishments in aviation, with and without her husband, from her first flight until Anne let her pilot's license expire and retired from aviation in 1937.

Winters places Anne Lindbergh's aviation career in the context of her personal life. Charles' high expectations of his wife were both liberating and trying for sheltered, insecure Anne. But Anne was buoyed by her husband's confidence in her skills and found strength and respite from the overwhelming media attention in the air. The book is most compelling when it takes us along on the Lindberghs' 10,000-mile Arctic Survey (1931) and 30,000-mile Atlantic Survey (1933). Anne's love of flying is apparent, as is the author's, as she describes the perils and wonders of these extraordinary flights. I never understood the enthusiasm that many people have for flying, but I think I do now. Winters' pleasant, precise prose reveals Anne Morrow Lindbergh's importance in the Golden Age of Aviation and explores her personal relationship with aviation.

I thought I knew more than the average Bear about Lindbergh, but I had no idea that his wife, Anne, was so instrumental in his flying new air routes around the world!

A very informative book on Charles and Anne Lindbergh, I learned a lot of things I never even guessed about, and I'm a long time pilot and aviation enthusiast. I really should have known that Anne was the first Woman Glider Pilot, but had no idea she even did it in my own back yard, Mt. Soledad and Torrey Pines Cliffs, California.

Kathleen Winters chose a great topic and did justice to Anne Morrow Lindbergh. After reading this book I feel I knew Anne and Charles as well as my fellow pilots, and came away with a much better idea of what it meant to do the long distance flights they did in the 30's. Very revealing of Charles's involvement with Commercial and Military aviation's Golden Era.

Everyone interested in aviation and flying should read this book, it's that good!

A well-researched book about the triumphs, trials and tribulations on the life of writer/pilot Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a shy, highly intelligent woman who emerged from her wealthy, sheltered life to discovered the beauty and horrors of the real world through Charles Lindbergh. Previously untold details reveal how she endured the agony of being a public figure. The writer leaves no doubt that Anne lived a full life most of us could only dream about or dread. Highly recommended.

I thought Anne Morrow Lindbergh-First Lady of the Air was going to be a historical documentary, which would have been interesting. It was much, much more. It is exciting reading that covers the gamut from insight into the personal life of an aviation icon to a unique look into the early days of the flying machines. Kathleen Winters' writing style made me feel like I knew the Lindbergh family personally. Her research is impeccable. I was awed by the challenges of mixing high society and celebrity with the rigors of exploratory flying. We all know about Charles Lindbergh. Now learn about the shy, but brave wife who made him what he was.

This splendid book illuminates a crucial aspect of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh: she was a pilot, flying gliders and power planes as well as doing navigation for Lindbergh flights. Winters is a glider and power pilot and instructor herself. She understands the mind of a woman pilot and convincingly describes Anne's experiences, from silent solitude in gliders to the daring flights with Charles in airplanes that were powerful yet crude by modern mechanical standards, on unexplored routes across the face of the world. Precise yet poetic language evokes both the romance of those flights and the gritty, jagged feel of the danger the fliers faced. This is an important biography, and a joy to read.