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Eddie Rickenbacker
W. David Lewis
€ 68.91
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Description for Eddie Rickenbacker
Hardback. David Lewis has written the definitive biography of America's ace of aces. Num Pages: 720 pages, 45, 45 black & white halftones. BIC Classification: BG; TRP. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 235 x 155 x 47. Weight in Grams: 1180.
Eddie Rickenbacker epitomized the American spirit in the twentieth century. Daring, skilled, and rugged-moving fast and defying death-he drove race cars in the early days of the automobile, then flew canvas-over-wooden-frame aeroplanes in the Great War, downing twenty-six enemy flyers and emerging at war's end as the nation's ace of aces. Only Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing and the much-decorated Sgt. Alvin York emerged from that struggle as equally lauded American heroes. Failing as an automobile maker after the war, Rickenbacker returned to aviation, joined Eastern Airlines in 1934, and quickly reached the top of the corporate ladder. With the start of World War II, he took on special missions to theaters of combat, surviving twenty-one days adrift on a small rubber raft after his plane went down at sea. But the seemingly indestructible Eddie did not thrive well under the new competitive conditions in the postwar airline industry. Despite having built Eastern into a major carrier, he departed the company under pressure in 1963. W. David Lewis's biography of Rickenbacker reveals both the achievements and the vulnerability of this quintessential American hero. Rickenbacker embodied what was new, exciting, and romantic about the country in the postwar years. His poignant story also sheds light on the ephemerality of American success and the fragility of celebrity. Capturing Rickenbacker's life in rich and vivid detail, W. David Lewis has written the definitive biography of America's ace of aces.
Product Details
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2005
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press United States
Number of pages
720
Condition
New
Number of Pages
720
Place of Publication
Baltimore, MD, United States
ISBN
9780801882449
SKU
V9780801882449
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-2
About W. David Lewis
Until his death in September 2007, W. David Lewis was a Distinguished University Professor at Auburn University.
Reviews for Eddie Rickenbacker
This well-written and well-researched biography tells the life story of one of America's greatest, most widely-recognized, and controversial airmen. Skyways 2005 Mr. Lewis' research, 15 years of it, is meticulous, showing the beauty of how fact-based reality can top fiction for excitement, irony and tragedy. Mr. Lewis has painted a balanced, complete picture of an extremely complex man. It's obvious the author has a love for his subject, but this is not hagiography: All aspects of Rickenbacker's personality are laid on the table. Washington Times 2006 Lewis is comprehensive about his subject. Booklist 2005 A riveting read-certainly the best telling of the Rickenbacker story we are ever likely to have. Airways 2006 Makes for an avid story not just of Rickenbacker and his world, but of an evolving transportation industry. California Bookwatch 2006 Lewis provides readers with the definitive biography of this extraordinary man. Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 2005 This book will give a whole new generation of readers insights into a truly unique American character. The Western Front Association 2006 Lewis's intent is to replace Rickenbacker's self-promoting, ghost-written autobiographies with a reliable scholarly life. Journal of American History 2006 Lewis has given us an unabashedly individual and heroic story from the heart of our era's passion for motorized speed. Technology and Culture 2007 [Lewis] has compiled the definitive biography of Eddie Rickenbacker, an often forgotten American hero and entrepreneur. Exhaustively researched and well written, Lewis's study chronicles the life and achievements of Rickenbacker from his humble beginnings as the son of Swiss immigrants through his rise to heroic military veteran and founding father of American auto racing and airline travel. H-War, H-Net Reviews 2006