Wild About Flying: The Dreamers, Doers and Daredevils [Hardcover]

Bruce Harris (Author), David Marshall (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2003

A celebration of aviation's first 100 years.

In 1903, the Wright Brothers achieved powered flight for the first time in history. Today, the wingspan length of commercial aircraft surpasses the distance of Orville Wright's first flight.

Wild About Flying is the story of flight as told through the people who changed the world forever. The book tells the true-life adventures of the pioneers, inventors, aviators, designers, engineers, navigators, test-pilots and visionaries who were responsible for developing one of mankind's most important inventions. Lively biographies of 54 famous, notorious, and lesser known aviation characters create a panoramic history of flight from its crude beginnings to the sophistication of space travel. The book also includes two illustrated timelines: The first features aviation's principal players and the second depicts the important technical advancements of specific aircraft.

Illustrating the text are 200 superb color paintings by internationally recognized aviation artist, David Marshall. His dynamic, historically accurate, and inspiring images are technically correct and the perfect complement to these engaging stories.

(200403)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School--This is a richly illustrated, breezy history of aviation told through brief biographies of the most central people in the saga of flight. Readers learn about French, British, Dutch, German, Russian, and American figures. The book begins with the pioneers who illuminated the path for the Wright brothers, those "visionaries who dreamed their own dreams and created answers to the problems that had kept people earthbound." The "doers" include the practical men who took Orville and Wilbur Wright's invention and turned it into a weapon or a commercial enterprise. Willi Messerschmitt and Kelly Johnson are in this category. With its unique focus and accurate, understandable technical data, this volume is a great addition to YA collections.--Alan Gropman, National Defense University, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Descriptions of risks taken by early aviation pioneers, essentially climbing aboard and launching rickety, motorized kites, will amaze teens. (Rollie Welch VOYA 200406)

Celebrates the individuals who helped get aviation off the ground. (Globe and Mail 20031213)

A visual delight illuminated as much by the informative text as by the fine, original illustrations... a beautiful, well-written volume. (M. Levinson Choice 200405)

Richly illustrated, breezy history of aviation... unique focus and accurate, understandable technical data. (Alan Gropman School Library Journal 200404)

This interesting book is filled with exciting stories about the visionaries and heroes of flight, all depicted in color illustrations. (Plane and Pilot 20031214)

Vibrant historical scenes that crackle with energy... a handsome and fascinating book... its authors truly love their subject. (John Foyston Portland Oregonian 200411)

Unique... beautifully illustrated... A valuable internationalizing addition to the history and aeronautics holdings of large public, college and university libraries. (Robert B. Ridinger E-Streams )

Focuses on the people... Each person has an entry illustrated with drawings, photographs and Marshall's paintings. (Ann Lloyd Merriman Richmond Times-Dispatch )

Superb illustrations and technical content are presented from such an interesting human perspective. (Roger D. Meicenheimer Science Books and Films )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Firefly Books; First Edition edition (October 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1552978494
• ISBN-13: 978-1552978498
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great paintings of classic aircraft, August 15, 2004

By 

Charles Hall (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild About Flying: The Dreamers, Doers and Daredevils (Hardcover)

This large format book has two major appeals: the beautiful paintings that illustrate the planes - and the nicely written biographical pieces. Each section averages about 3 pages, some more, some less. Typically there are 2-3 small photos and 3-4 paintings (some large) per story. There are about 60 such sections, each on a famous flyer or flight. This a much more international selection than you're used to seeing.

While the stories are fascinating, it's the paintings that will draw you back again and again to this book. They appear to be a mixture of oils and watercolors I think (I'm no artist!). Many are beautiful action scenes; all show great detail.

This is the kind of book that will inspire you to go buy a cheap set of watercolors and see if you can capture some of this magic yourself!

Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Art Drew Me In - But the Biographies Held Me!, April 5, 2004

By 

Upward Call - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild About Flying: The Dreamers, Doers and Daredevils (Hardcover)

This well-illustrated and well-written book will fill in some of the interesting missing chapters from the story of flight. Any student of flight's first century will have developed a mental catalog of the famous fliers of the period. In this collection of refreshing biographies that Bruce Harris has woven together, most of those particular names will prove to be missing. In their place are over two hundred of the less recognized pioneers of flight. In reading this book, I will hazard to guess that you'll meet at least two dozen people for the first time. Fill in a few missing chapters from the story of flight from the pages of this well-researched and enjoyable book.