The Wright Brothers Flies Right!

First Flight,
taken from Wikipedia

The Wright Brothers was an excellent book--no surprise, I'm sure, to McCullough's many fans. Everyone thinks they know something about these icons of aviation, but the mark of a truly great book of popular history, especially a biography, is that when you're finished reading, you know much more than you ever imagined you could about the book's subject.

This book was rich and meaty, filled with details about the two brothers, their family, their business and their neighborhood. McCullough managed to make a well-known and seemingly simple story complex, nuanced, and even suspenseful. It was amazing to me that at each turn of events in the saga of first flight, I was worried about how it was going to come out. And yet all of it had already taken place long ago!

Not only were there many facts, but there were documents and photos, letters and diaries to support the facts given. And McCullough didn't overstep the natural boundaries of non-fiction by venturing off into imagining thoughts and feelings he was not privy to, as many non-fiction writers will do. Instead, he qualified his speculation about what was not evident, basing his opinion on what was known about the brothers.

Because I felt as if I'd gotten to know these people, I was sad by the end of the book when I learned how they died. That's as it should be for a great biography. Well done, David! I'm looking forward to your next book.