Customer Reviews

Charles A. Lindbergh: A Human Hero

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The general idea behind Giblin's book is that Charles Lindbergh was a hero despite his faults and flaws. Cleverly, he has chosen to present Charles's life in full, making him a understandable character, before later revealing his Nazi sympathies. Giblin is no stranger to the controversial biography. His adept children's book, "The Life and Death of Adolph Hitler", follows much the same path as this earlier creation. Lindbergh's life was nothing if not exciting. He became the first man to cross the Atlantic from New York to Paris. Then his baby was kidnapped and killed. Then he started spouting racist and anti-semitic speeches in an effort to keep America out of World War Two. Finally, he worked tirelessly to conserve the environment and protect endangered species for the rest of his life. If you examine these facts as a whole, you find it difficult to pigeonhole this fascinating human being. Giblin has presented his subject honestly. People who see Lindbergh as a hero and people who see him as a racist traitor will both enjoy this riveting biography. To his credit, Giblin never shies away from the negative aspects of his otherwise beloved subject. Though he offers several possible explanations for Lindbergh's relentless isolationism, he lets the viewers come to their own conclusions about this tarnished man.

Giblin is to be commended for his research as well. There is no fact presented in this book that is not backed up by rigorous sourcenotes. An adept timeline, index, and bibliography appear in the back of the text. Personally, I find it difficult to forgive Lindbergh his crimes. Just the same, I cannot help but find things to admire about him, all thanks to Giblin's amazing skills as a children's biographer. This book is a full-scale biography that every student of history should read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gave many details about the first solo flight across the Atlantic. it showed that while a national hero Lindbergh was still a regular human with his own ideas & opinions.

This book is about Charles Lindbergh, the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean with his Spirit of St. Louis. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Charles Lindbergh.