The Wright Brothers
The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.
In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).
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The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
262 pages
What’s it about?
This book takes us back to the turn of the century when air flight was the next great frontier. Wilbur and Orville Wright were men of a certain time and place. Their discoveries were fascinating, not only because they were innovative, but because of the process they used to move these ideas forward.
What did it make me think about?
As cheesy as it sounds- the Wright Brothers are the perfect example of what made America great.
Should I read it?
David McCullough writes about history in a way that is so readable. Before you know it you have finished the book and you are that much more knowledgable for it. You do not need to be an aviation buff to enjoy this book. The time and place are fascinating, as well as Wilbur and Orville themselves.
Quote-
" The whole course of their lives, they liked to say, had begun in childhood with a toy, and a French toy at that, and now they were in middle age in France, enjoying themselves no less than if they were children still.
With the diabolo the magic was not that the toy itself flew, as did Alphonse Penaud's helicopter. Here you yourself had to overcome the force of gravity with skill. You had to learn the trick by practice, and more practice, with the sticks and the strings, to keep the spool flying- just as an airplane was not enough in itself, one had to master the art of flying."
If you like this try-
One Summer; America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sachs
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
262 pages
What’s it about?
This book takes us back to the turn of the century when air flight was the next great frontier. Wilbur and Orville Wright were men of a certain time and place. Their discoveries were fascinating, not only because they were innovative, but because of the process they used to move these ideas forward.
What did it make me think about?
As cheesy as it sounds- the Wright Brothers are the perfect example of what made America great.
Should I read it?
David McCullough writes about history in a way that is so readable. Before you know it you have finished the book and you are that much more knowledgable for it. You do not need to be an aviation buff to enjoy this book. The time and place are fascinating, as well as Wilbur and Orville themselves.
Quote-
" The whole course of their lives, they liked to say, had begun in childhood with a toy, and a French toy at that, and now they were in middle age in France, enjoying themselves no less than if they were children still.
With the diabolo the magic was not that the toy itself flew, as did Alphonse Penaud's helicopter. Here you yourself had to overcome the force of gravity with skill. You had to learn the trick by practice, and more practice, with the sticks and the strings, to keep the spool flying- just as an airplane was not enough in itself, one had to master the art of flying."
If you like this try-
One Summer; America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sachs
PART I
1. Beginnings
6,5/10
Basic intro biography of the lives of the 2 brothers as young men. A bit about their mom, dad, sister. It’s not really relevant to flight in any way.
2. The Dream Takes Hold
7/10
Interest in flight and finding a location.
3. Where the Winds Blow
6,5/10
Travel to the sandy windy area to start experimenting. They need consistent strong wind and a huge straight area to experiment on. You need wind from the front to fly with such primitive machines.
4. Unyielding Resolve
6,5/10
Kite testing successful.
PART II
5. December 17, 1903
7/10
Building a motor and first flight. More mentions of failed competing flights like the huge failure of the hugely expensive government program.
6. Out at Huffman Prairie
7,5/10
Some interesting details about their improvements of the airplane as they start testing it where they live instead. Media very slowly starts writing about it and only small regional media. Some people now also come out to look on. But they have no success selling the idea to the War Department or the government so they are forced to seek British or French deals.
7. A Capital Exhibit A
8,5/10
Even though the War Department invested $50k in an airplane experiment that was a huge failure and Wright brothers made a functioning plane for basically nothing the military refuses to take them seriously. So $50K from the state plus $20K private investment vs. $1000 for the Wright brothers. They travel to Europe, mostly Paris, to try to sell some planes. But everyone refuses to buy anything. The French now also have many rich people producing their own very primitive planes that don’t stay in the air. Agents and customers want bribes or 20% of all sales. As the Wright brothers refuse to give away patents and bribes it’s hard for them to find investments in Europe. But then suddenly they get some more serious offers from both sides of the Atlantic. I’m not sure that happened. It seems like once they actually start showing the planes flying to the interested public, most start to believe them.
The chapter finally feels big enough and detailed enough to feel real and significant. It’s still just largely a travel blog, but some interesting culture norms and technologies talked about.
8. Triumph at Le Mans
8,5/10
Curious chapter about Wilbur doing flights in France. The French public, unlikely USA at this point, goes haywire. They disliked these Americans as they were seen as scam artists. It wasn’t really seen as possible. They also had their own bad planes. The plane he got sent from USA was destroyed by the French customs. A friendly French factory owner allows him to use his factory to assemble it. After he does his first flight the French public and press are ecstatic. It is clear this is the first and still the best airplane. They come every day just to have a chance of seeing it fly. Photos are not allowed. This secrecy is why they didn’t believe it. Because in France all their airplanes were publicly tested.
PART III
9. The Crash
9/10
Orville crashes in USA as Wilbur is in France. In USA the public and media finally takes great interest in the flights as they fly for over an hour for the public regularly. A big man, who is a spy for Bell, is part of the government and is required a flight in the dual seat plane. The flight crashes and Orville gets seriously insured and the spy dies. His sister makes food for him at an army hospital. His leg is now shorter. They decide to travel to France to help out Wilbur.
10. A Time Like No Other
7,5/10
The 3 Wright siblings are in Europe meeting nobility and kings. Katharine Wright loves France and the French people love all 3. They are very popular, get stopped for photos all the time and enjoy France. The sister is the only social one and it’s her first time traveling and flying. The brothers are autistic, never married, just worked all their life. They like some of the social experiences though. They are training French pilots for the planes and everything is working perfectly as part of their sales. Many new flying clubs are appearing in France. Actually, just in years there are even flying competitions as the secret of flying is finally solved for all.
When they go to Rome it becomes a bit too much for the sister who feels homesick and complains about kings always wanting to see them fly.
11. Causes for Celebration
7/10
Extra info about their later lives and deaths. They broke quite a few world records in flying. When Wilbur died in 1912 it seems like nothing much else happened until Orville died in 1948. One weird thing is that when his sister in her 50’s married and moved out he refused to ever speak to her again and only saw her when she was on her deathbed. Very weird behavior and it’s hard to understand what this whole virginity thing was about with him and his brother.
Smithsonian and many others refuse to accept that Wright were the first to fly. Smithsonian takes the old failed government project and improves it in some ways then makes it fly, then rebuilds the original one afterwards again, to show that this is actually the first airplane. Orville is mad. There is also a story about a German American who flew before them, but yet again with no evidence besides eye witnesses 3 decades later.
My final opinion on the book
It’s fine.
With McCullough's book you get bareboned history with little extra to it. Just a bunch of facts collected into one history book. It can be hard to follow the stories and logic. Rather you are just there and need to do a ton of work in your head to understand the structure. For example, why were the Wright brothers never married? Why did their sister marry so late in life? It's freaky and interesting. But McCullough never goes into any idea. He doesn't analyse stuff by using critical sources. Rather he uses letters, newspaper articles and official documents to put light on a specific topic and you are left with many questions.
It's good history and I will keep reading everything he writes, but I do feel like I'm missing lots of history here. Unless you have other more visual and simple sources too this may be a tad too confusing. The writing and storytelling is very simple though. For example, the first chapter reveals just regular men owning a bike shop. There is nothing flashy or big here. McCullough accepts everything as is. The Wright brothers are presented as just regular hard-working blue-collar workers with great intellect. You feel like you could have built the plane with enough resources which frankly does seem kinda likely. But you'd need to do a ton of experiments and get the right design. Hundreds of people created their own airplanes even before this, but none could fly as well as the Wright Flyer because no one took the extra step to build and rebuild their ideas to actually make them stay in the air.
I do wonder how much I learned from this. But then again I've watched a ton of documentaries about these events and forget most of it. And that's sources that are very simple to understand. Maybe if I watch documentaries about this now they will make more sense. But I should have watched a few documentaries BEFORE reading the book. It always helps A LOT yet I rarely do it.
1. Beginnings
6,5/10
Basic intro biography of the lives of the 2 brothers as young men. A bit about their mom, dad, sister. It’s not really relevant to flight in any way.
2. The Dream Takes Hold
7/10
Interest in flight and finding a location.
3. Where the Winds Blow
6,5/10
Travel to the sandy windy area to start experimenting. They need consistent strong wind and a huge straight area to experiment on. You need wind from the front to fly with such primitive machines.
4. Unyielding Resolve
6,5/10
Kite testing successful.
PART II
5. December 17, 1903
7/10
Building a motor and first flight. More mentions of failed competing flights like the huge failure of the hugely expensive government program.
6. Out at Huffman Prairie
7,5/10
Some interesting details about their improvements of the airplane as they start testing it where they live instead. Media very slowly starts writing about it and only small regional media. Some people now also come out to look on. But they have no success selling the idea to the War Department or the government so they are forced to seek British or French deals.
7. A Capital Exhibit A
8,5/10
Even though the War Department invested $50k in an airplane experiment that was a huge failure and Wright brothers made a functioning plane for basically nothing the military refuses to take them seriously. So $50K from the state plus $20K private investment vs. $1000 for the Wright brothers. They travel to Europe, mostly Paris, to try to sell some planes. But everyone refuses to buy anything. The French now also have many rich people producing their own very primitive planes that don’t stay in the air. Agents and customers want bribes or 20% of all sales. As the Wright brothers refuse to give away patents and bribes it’s hard for them to find investments in Europe. But then suddenly they get some more serious offers from both sides of the Atlantic. I’m not sure that happened. It seems like once they actually start showing the planes flying to the interested public, most start to believe them.
The chapter finally feels big enough and detailed enough to feel real and significant. It’s still just largely a travel blog, but some interesting culture norms and technologies talked about.
8. Triumph at Le Mans
8,5/10
Curious chapter about Wilbur doing flights in France. The French public, unlikely USA at this point, goes haywire. They disliked these Americans as they were seen as scam artists. It wasn’t really seen as possible. They also had their own bad planes. The plane he got sent from USA was destroyed by the French customs. A friendly French factory owner allows him to use his factory to assemble it. After he does his first flight the French public and press are ecstatic. It is clear this is the first and still the best airplane. They come every day just to have a chance of seeing it fly. Photos are not allowed. This secrecy is why they didn’t believe it. Because in France all their airplanes were publicly tested.
PART III
9. The Crash
9/10
Orville crashes in USA as Wilbur is in France. In USA the public and media finally takes great interest in the flights as they fly for over an hour for the public regularly. A big man, who is a spy for Bell, is part of the government and is required a flight in the dual seat plane. The flight crashes and Orville gets seriously insured and the spy dies. His sister makes food for him at an army hospital. His leg is now shorter. They decide to travel to France to help out Wilbur.
10. A Time Like No Other
7,5/10
The 3 Wright siblings are in Europe meeting nobility and kings. Katharine Wright loves France and the French people love all 3. They are very popular, get stopped for photos all the time and enjoy France. The sister is the only social one and it’s her first time traveling and flying. The brothers are autistic, never married, just worked all their life. They like some of the social experiences though. They are training French pilots for the planes and everything is working perfectly as part of their sales. Many new flying clubs are appearing in France. Actually, just in years there are even flying competitions as the secret of flying is finally solved for all.
When they go to Rome it becomes a bit too much for the sister who feels homesick and complains about kings always wanting to see them fly.
11. Causes for Celebration
7/10
Extra info about their later lives and deaths. They broke quite a few world records in flying. When Wilbur died in 1912 it seems like nothing much else happened until Orville died in 1948. One weird thing is that when his sister in her 50’s married and moved out he refused to ever speak to her again and only saw her when she was on her deathbed. Very weird behavior and it’s hard to understand what this whole virginity thing was about with him and his brother.
Smithsonian and many others refuse to accept that Wright were the first to fly. Smithsonian takes the old failed government project and improves it in some ways then makes it fly, then rebuilds the original one afterwards again, to show that this is actually the first airplane. Orville is mad. There is also a story about a German American who flew before them, but yet again with no evidence besides eye witnesses 3 decades later.
My final opinion on the book
It’s fine.
With McCullough's book you get bareboned history with little extra to it. Just a bunch of facts collected into one history book. It can be hard to follow the stories and logic. Rather you are just there and need to do a ton of work in your head to understand the structure. For example, why were the Wright brothers never married? Why did their sister marry so late in life? It's freaky and interesting. But McCullough never goes into any idea. He doesn't analyse stuff by using critical sources. Rather he uses letters, newspaper articles and official documents to put light on a specific topic and you are left with many questions.
It's good history and I will keep reading everything he writes, but I do feel like I'm missing lots of history here. Unless you have other more visual and simple sources too this may be a tad too confusing. The writing and storytelling is very simple though. For example, the first chapter reveals just regular men owning a bike shop. There is nothing flashy or big here. McCullough accepts everything as is. The Wright brothers are presented as just regular hard-working blue-collar workers with great intellect. You feel like you could have built the plane with enough resources which frankly does seem kinda likely. But you'd need to do a ton of experiments and get the right design. Hundreds of people created their own airplanes even before this, but none could fly as well as the Wright Flyer because no one took the extra step to build and rebuild their ideas to actually make them stay in the air.
I do wonder how much I learned from this. But then again I've watched a ton of documentaries about these events and forget most of it. And that's sources that are very simple to understand. Maybe if I watch documentaries about this now they will make more sense. But I should have watched a few documentaries BEFORE reading the book. It always helps A LOT yet I rarely do it.
The book provides a handful of interesting anecdotes that provide interesting historical context and deepen one's appreciation for the creative and physical work that can be involved in invention. In particular:
+ The Wright Brothers essentially camped out doors on a remote island while doing most of their design, building and testing of their plane
+ The advent of the modern bicycle not only occurred during the Wright Brother's lifetime, but was still a novel product that they built and sold at the time their plane began to work
+ The design of the airplane, and in particular the mechanisms by which it achieved equilibrium in the air, were based on detailed study of birds flight. Rival inventors that first tried to solve mechanical problems all failed.
These interesting vignettes provide historical depth and useful lessons. However, if the book suffers, it is from the simple fact that the lives of great inventors / technologists are frequently uninteresting and centered around a fairly sustained pursuit of technical advance. The author struggles to hang narrative breaks onto what was essentially a ceaseless pursuit of scientific advance. You end up with the impression that it was probably much more interesting to be the Wright Brothers, struggling with all manner of complex problems, than to read about them doing so.
+ The Wright Brothers essentially camped out doors on a remote island while doing most of their design, building and testing of their plane
+ The advent of the modern bicycle not only occurred during the Wright Brother's lifetime, but was still a novel product that they built and sold at the time their plane began to work
+ The design of the airplane, and in particular the mechanisms by which it achieved equilibrium in the air, were based on detailed study of birds flight. Rival inventors that first tried to solve mechanical problems all failed.
These interesting vignettes provide historical depth and useful lessons. However, if the book suffers, it is from the simple fact that the lives of great inventors / technologists are frequently uninteresting and centered around a fairly sustained pursuit of technical advance. The author struggles to hang narrative breaks onto what was essentially a ceaseless pursuit of scientific advance. You end up with the impression that it was probably much more interesting to be the Wright Brothers, struggling with all manner of complex problems, than to read about them doing so.
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