The Wright Brothers

By David McCullough

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs

David McCullough's 2015 history tells the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the brothers from Dayton, Ohio, who taught the world how to fly. McCullough follows the brothers from their bicycle shop to the windswept dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where they made the first powered airplane flights in December 1903. He traces their setbacks, their rivals and skeptics, and the public demonstrations in France and the United States that made them famous.

Recommended by 5 people

• Ed Zschau
• Austen Allred
• Jeff Immelt: “It’s really good, spectacular. Somebody can’t have worked at GE and not read “Wright Brothers”.”
• Shane Parrish: “The great biographer McCullough is back with another one — a short biography of The Wright Brothers.”
• Brian Armstrong: “An inspiring biography. It was incredible to hear about the determination, constraints, willingness to endure ridicule, disbelief, etc that the two brothers endured on their journey to invent the airplane. A worthwhile read for all builders.”