The Wright Brothers by David McCollough

If you need a good, detailed refresher on the world’s first mechanical flight, then this is the book for you.

For me, however, the neatest thing about David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers is the fact that the author has the brothers in the air and flying at Kill Devil Hill at about the one-third mark of the book. He spends the remaining two-thirds of the pages following the Wrights in their post first-flight days; covering the testing, and marketing, of the world’s first mechanically powered airplane.

For two years after their success in North Carolina, the Wrights worked on their airplane in Ohio, logging numerous flights. From there, Wilbur headed to France to present their efforts and hopefully sell the technology. Orville remained in America, and nearly lost his life in a flying accident. McCullough covers all of this in great detail—due to both his great skill as an author, and the fact that the Wright family was very diligent in writing and documenting every aspect of their lives. It is a very detailed look at the lives of these famous aviators.