The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of American Aviation (Pivotal Moments in American History)

336 Pages·2010·4.04 MB·English

by  Thomas Kessner

THE FLIGHT OF THE CENTURY
p ivotal moments in american history
Series Editors
David Hackett Fischer
James M. McPherson
D avid Greenberg
James T. Patterson Colin G. Calloway
Brown v. Board of Education: Th e Scratch of a Pen: 1763
A Civil Rights Milestone and the Transformation
and Its Troubled Legacy of North America
Maury Klein Richard Labunski
Rainbow’s End: James Madison and the
Th e Crash of 1929 Struggle for the Bill of Rights
James McPherson Sally McMillen
Crossroads of Freedom: Seneca Falls and the Origins
Th e Battle of Antietam of the Women’s Rights Movement
Glenn C. Altschuler Howard Jones
All Shook Up: Th e Bay of Pigs
How Rock ’n’ Roll Changed America
Elliott West
David Hackett Fischer Th e Last Indian War:
Washington’s Crossing Th e Nez Perce Story
John Ferling Lynn Hudson Parsons
Adams vs. Jeff erson: Th e Birth of Modern Politics:
Th e Tumultuous Election of 1800 Andrew Jackson, John Quincy
Adams, and the Election of 1828
Joel H. Silbey
Storm over Texas: Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin
Th e Annexation Controversy Th e GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans
and the Road to Civil War
Richard Archer
Raymond Arsenault As If an Enemy’s Country:
Freedom Riders: 1961 and Th e British Occupation of Boston
the Struggle for Racial Justice and the Origins of Revolution
THE FLIGHT
OF THE CENTURY
CHARLES LINDBERGH & THE RISE
OF AMERICAN AVIATION
THOMAS KESSNER

2010
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Copyright © 2010 by Th omas Kessner
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kessner, Th omas.
Th e fl ight of the century : Charles Lindbergh
and the rise of American aviation / Th omas Kessner.
p. cm. — (Pivotal moments in American history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-532019-0
1. Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902–1974.
2. Air pilots—United States—Biography.
3. Aeronautics—United States—History—20th century.
I. Title.
TL540.L5K385 2010
629.130092—dc22
[B] 2010006082
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
B‘EZRAS HASHEM
FOR RACHEL
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“ Colonel Lindbergh has displaced
everything . . . . He fi lls all our thought. He has
displaced politics . . . . [H]e has lift ed us into
the upper air that is his home . . . . We are all
better men and women because of this
exhibition in this fl ight of our young friend.
Our boys and girls have before them a
stirring, inspiring vision of real manhood.
What a wonderful thing it is to live in a time
when science and character join hands to lift
up humanity with a vision of its own dignity.”
Charles Evans Hughes,
New York Times,
June 15, 1927
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CONTENTS
Lindbergh’s Map , x
Editor’s Note , xii
Introduction , xv
1 You’re Your Own Boss, 1
2 A colyte of the Air, 20
3 A viation Takes Flight, 44
4 I ntricate Perfection, 5 9
5 Flight of the Century , 8 4
6 Vive Lindbergh! Vive l’Américain! 9 8
7 It Touched Off Aviation, 1 22
8 Airship Diplomacy , 1 45
9 Th e Lindbergh Era , 164
10 “We” Now a Trio , 1 80
11 As One Gains Fame One Loses Life , 201
Epilogue: Th e End of Heroes , 224
Acknowledgments , 2 41
Notes , 2 43
Selected Bibliography, 2 89
Index , 293