Atlantic Fever Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic

by Jackson, Joe

• ISBN13: 9781250033307
• ISBN10: 1250033306
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-04-30
• Publisher: Picador

Summary

A fast-paced, dynamic account of the race to cross the Atlantic, and the larger-than-life personalities of the aviators who captured the world's attentionFor five weeks - from April 14 to May 21, 1927 - the world held its breath while fourteen aviators took to the air to capture the $25,000 prize that Raymond Orteig offered to the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean without stopping.Joe Jackson's Atlantic Fever is about this race, a milestone in American history whose story has never been fully told. Delving into the lives of the big-name competitors - the polar explorer Richard Byrd, the French war hero Rene Fonck, the millionaire Charles Levine, and the race's eventual winner, the enigmatic Charles Lindbergh - as well as those whose names have been forgotten by history (such as Bernt Balchen, Stanton Wooster, and Clarence Chamberlin), Jackson brings a completely fresh and original perspective to the race to conquer the Atlantic.Atlantic Fever opens for us one of those magical windows onto a moment when the nexus of technology, innovation, character, and spirit led so many contenders from different parts of the world to be on the cusp of the exact same achievement at the exact same time.Praise for The Thief at the End of the World"An exhilarating narrative, sweeping us through great discoveries and international rivalries." - Jenny Uglow, author of The Lunar Men

Author Biography

Joe Jackson is the author of five works of nonfiction and one novel. His most recent book, The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire, was named one of Time magazine’s Top Ten Nonfiction Books of 2008.