A01=Tom D. Crouch
Author_Tom D. Crouch
Category=TBX
Category=TRP
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_tech-engineering
Product details
- ISBN 9780393326208
- Weight: 1116g
- Dimensions: 155 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 05 Nov 2004
- Publisher: WW Norton & Co
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The invention of the airplane ushered in the modern age—a new era of global commerce, revolutionary technologies, and total war. Whatever the practical consequences, the sheer exhilaration of flight captured the imagination. No longer bound to the surface of the earth, humans took the first steps on a journey that would eventually carry them to other worlds. Tom Crouch weaves the people, machines, and ideas of the air age into a compelling narrative. He tells how the enthusiasm of amateurs spawned an industry that determined the rise and fall of nations. Yet this is not a tale of unalloyed progress. Moments of exaltation were tempered by bitter disappointment and stark terror. Blind alleys were the price of technical progress. In the end, there is no more fascinating cast of characters than those who wrote history in the sky. Theirs is a fascinating story of realizing an extraordinary dream and riding it.
Tom D. Crouch, author of The Bishop's Boys and A Dream of Wings, is curator emeritus of the aeronautics division at the National Air & Space Museum. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
