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The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of American Aviation. By Thomas Kessner. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. xxii, 313 pp. $27.95, isbn 978-0-19532019-0.)
More years ago than I care to remember, I talked with George R. Hann, an important figure in the development of commercial aviation in Pennsylvania, about his career in aeronautics. Hann had a vivid memory of staying up all night listening to radio reports of Charles Lindberghs May 1927 solo flight from New York to Paris. He believed that this "splendid young man gave [aviation] that additional lift" and convinced him and other potential investors rhat there were new business opportunities in aeronautics.
Thomas Kessner's book is an examination of how and why Lindbergh elicited so much popular excitement and what his status as an international hero meant for the...