Amelia Earhart's Daughters: The Wild And Glorious Story Of American Women Aviators From World War II To The Dawn Of The Space Age (Paperback)

by Leslie Haynsworth (Author), David Toomey (Author) "The man is not the kind who'd usually attract much notice..." (more)
Key Phrases: ferrying pilots, jet test pilot, woman into space, Jackie Cochran, Jerrie Cobb, Nancy Love (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The first American woman to fly a plane ignored the orders of her flight instructor and unblocked the throttle he had rigged to prevent her takeoff. She lifted above where he stood on the tarmac for a few moments before returning, triumphant, to the ground. From that moment, the history of America's airwomen has been one such high-flying rebellion after another. In chapters that intercut profiles of the most important (and forgotten) American women aviators with a more general history of aviation, Amelia Earhart's Daughters revives this fascinating and underdocumented slice of American women's history.

As Haynsworth and Toomey explain, female aviators in the U.S. earned their way as "barnstormers" in the first two decades of the 20th century, performing airborne stunts for the enthralled masses at county fairs and exhibitions. When America's role in World War II deepened after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, enterprising women pilots pushed for and finally found work as Women's Airforce Service Pilots, delivering military planes for combat around the country and overseas. Finally, women demanded and, after much disappointment, gained a role in the U.S. aerospace program. Although the authors' desire for completeness sometimes leads to digression, these terrific, adventurous women are well worth knowing. Read and be inspired! --Maria Dolan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
During WWII, a group of American women pilots under the leadership of the legendary Jacqueline Cochran shattered the aviation gender barrier by performing feats that, until then, women supposedly could not do. Under the auspices of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), a division of the U.S. Air Force, Cochran's aviators flew some of the fastest and most dangerous aircraft of the day, including the P-51 Mustang fighter, notorious for taxing the strength and skill of its pilots. Because the story of the WASPs is already well known, Haynsworth, an advertising copywriter, and Toomey, who teaches English at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg), to their credit, use the Cochran/WASPs tale as a springboard for a series of lively chronicles of unsung female heroics. One of their best anecdotes involves a Chinese-American woman who crash-lands in a Texas field in 1943 while in training for the Air Force. The terrorized locals insist she's a Japanese invader until the pilot and her fellow soldiers stage a mock surrender. The authors present freshly angled details on a number of familiar episodes from other historical eras such as the U.S.-Soviet space race. The pioneering voyage of Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, is related with wit and drama so that, 35 years later, we're still relieved to read that her prolonged silence in orbit resulted not from death, as Soviet engineers feared, but because she'd fallen into a deep and weightless sleep. Informative, often gripping, this is a must-read for those who would understand the indelible contrail women in aviation and space flight have left in their wake since the invention of the airplane. Editor, Claire Wachtel; agent, David Hendin.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; First Edition edition (May 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380729849
• ISBN-13: 978-0380729845
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #691,373 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #32 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( E ) > Earhart, Amelia
  #38 in	Books > History > Military > World War II > Women
  #82 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Astronauts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daughters delivers verve, wit, and spellbinding history, September 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Amelia Earhart's Daughters : The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age (Hardcover)

I picked up this book on a friend's recommendation and with few expectations. I had had no interest in aviation, am a tremulous airplane passenger, and when my fourth grade class assembled to watch the histoic moon landing, I had more interest in one small boy next to me than I did in one small step for man. Not anymore. Haynsworth's and Toomey's gripping narrative style and rigorous scholarship provide what few history books do, page-turning excitement. This book conveys the miraculous wonder that spectators must have experienced at early barn-storming events: breathless amazement at mankind flying high and fast beyond the clouds and straight into the impossible. From contraptions of wood and wire, barely recognizable as planes, to 6.2 million pound machines hurtling through the air at speeds of 6,000 miles an hour, Amelia Earhart's Daughters presents the great scope of the history of women in aviation. Walk, run, hell, fly to your nearest bookstore and pick up this book, you'll be glad you did and grateful to these pioneer women aviators and the authors for letting you share the ride.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes Me Feel A Mile-High, September 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Amelia Earhart's Daughters : The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age (Hardcover)

The stories of women innovators always excite, but the story told by Haynsworth and Toomey is inspirational. More than a feel-good book, however, this book ranks as the best historical text I've read since "The Rape of Europa." Amelia Earhart's Daughters should make its way into all high-school reading lists. The stories of these unknown angels are vital components of the story of women in the 20th Century.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Absorbing, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Amelia Earhart's Daughters : The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age (Hardcover)

The advantage of reading nonfiction written by two literature specialists is that this book is not only informative and obviously well-researched, it is also compelling and thoroughly enjoyable to read. The challenges faced by the (socio-economically) diverse group of women involved in both the WASP and aerospace programs, as well as their motivations and the women themselves, literally fly off the page. Anyone who still believes that historical accounts can ever be objective is either naive or uneducated, and the bias here is in favor of the women, but not undeservedly or unreasonably so. They persevered and contributed greatly to our society when many, male or female, would have given up, and this account of their struggle is very even-handed. As a high school teacher, I will recommend this book to my students of both sexes as an absorbing lesson in history, government, and the role of determination and sacrifice in achievement. Well done!