Written by gifted storyteller Winston Groom (author of Forrest Gump),
The Aviators tells the saga of three extraordinary aviators--Charles
Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle--and how they
redefine heroism through their genius, daring, and uncommon courage.
This is the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined
aviation during the great age of flight. These cleverly interwoven tales
of their heart-stopping adventures take us from the feats of World War I
through the heroism of World War II and beyond, including daring
military raids and survival-at-sea, and will appeal to fans of
Unbroken, The Greatest Generation, and Flyboys. With the world in
peril in World War II, each man set aside great success and comfort to
return to the skies for his most daring mission yet. Doolittle, a
brilliant aviation innovator, would lead the daring Tokyo Raid to
retaliate for Pearl Harbor; Lindbergh, hero of the first solo flight
across the Atlantic, would fly combat missions in the South Pacific; and
Rickenbacker, World War I flying ace, would bravely hold his crew
together while facing near-starvation and circling sharks after his
plane went down in a remote part of the Pacific. Groom's rich narrative
tells their intertwined stories--from broken homes to Medals of Honor
(all three would receive it); barnstorming to the greatest raid of World
War II; front-page triumph to anguished tragedy; and near-death to
ultimate survival--as all took to the sky, time and again, to become
exemplars of the spirit of the "greatest generation."
