Enduring Courage; Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of The Age of Speed

New York: St. Martin's Press, 2014. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Jeffrey L. Ward (Maps). xxiii, [1], 373, [1] pages. Illustrations. Notes. A Note to the Reader. Index. DJ has some edge wear. Writing in ink on fep. John F. Ross is an American historian and author. He is the recipient of the 2011 Fort Ticonderoga Award for Contributions to American History. The author of over 200 articles, Ross' works have appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest, and the Washington Post. Ross is the former Executive Editor of American Heritage and has served on the Board of Editors at Smithsonian Magazine. His book Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed (St. Martin's Press, 2014) tells the true story of Eddie Rickenbacker, America's greatest flying ace during World War I. Ross details how Rickenbacker overcame class hostility and a lack of formal education, pushing redefining the nature of speed in American society to become one of America's greatest race car drivers and pilots. Derived from a Kirkus review: Energetic look at the World War I ace's early exploits through the prism of exciting modern changes in America. In his passionate biography, Ross finds in Eddie Rickenbacker (1890-1973) a subject as brash, unassuming and heroic as the young American nation at the turn of the 20th century. The author admires the fact that the son of poor Swiss immigrants had so much going against him in the early years and overcame the obstacles through sheer hard work and determination. Rickenbacker adored mechanical tinkering and invention and parlayed his work in a machine shop into becoming "mechanician" at the Oscar Lear Automobile Company, racing state-of-the-art Frayer-Millers. With the United States propelled into the European war in 1917, Rickenbacker talked his way past bigotry against German-Americans, his lack of education and an eye injury and began flying lessons at Tours Aerodrome, essentially teaching himself in the fragile Nieuports that the Germans outclassed in their mightier Albatroses. Aerial dogfights provided plenty of sobering danger and led to the deaths of many of his closest colleagues. In a few short months, Rickenbacker, with 26 kills, was a national hero.