This work includes the never before published photograph album presented by Orville Wright in 1920 by the widow of French Industrialist, Leon Bollee. The photographs were taken during the Wrights' 1908-1909 visit to France

Definitive, crisply written study tells the full story of the brothers' lives and work — from their early childhood and initial fascination with flight, the historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, more.

The reissue of this definitive biography heralds the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight. Brilliant, self-trained engineers, the Wright brothers had a unique blend of native talent, character, and family experience that perfectly suited them to the task of invention but left them ill-prepared to face a world of skeptics, rivals, and officials. Using a treasure trove of Wright family correspondence and diaries, Tom Crouch skillfully weaves the story of the airplane's invention into the drama of a unique and unforgettable family. He shows us exactly how and why these two obscure bachelors from Dayton, Ohio, were able to succeed where so many better-trained, better-financed rivals had failed.

2008 is the Centennial of Wilbur Wright's key flights in France - flights that gave birth to modern aviation. It is a story little known in the English-speaking world; this 180pp, budget, B&W version of the lavishly-illustrated, full-colour first edition tells the remarkable story behind the Le Mans celebrations of 2008, and the 2009 Pau centennial of the first pilot school in the world. Includes over 150 antique French postcards; also newspaper reports and posters of these and other events of the Belle Epoque period of flightin France.

On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers took their historic first flight, and by 1909 the brothers were full-fledged celebrities. In September of that year, Wilbur and Orville finally showed the world, firsthand, just what they had achieved. In the United States, Wilbur delighted the crowd with spectacular flying demonstrations in New York City during the city's Hudson-Fulton Celebration. He flew over the harbor, glided past tall buildings, looped the Statue of Liberty, and even traveled up the Hudson River to Grant's Tomb. The people of New York were astonished and thrilled to witness these unbelievable flights. At the same time, Orville held daring public exhibitions in Germany and set amazing new records. He flew the highest ever, and took the longest flight with a passenger. The Wright brothers opened doors that no one knew could be opened! Louise Borden and Trish Marx document the extraordinary lives and achievements of two of our most celebrated American heroes, Wilbur and Orville Wright, from their humble beginnings to their later success and riches.