Air Devils: Sky Racers, Sky Divers, and Stunt Pilots (Cover-To-Cover Books) - Hardcover

Hopkins, Ellen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0780793080 ISBN 13: 9780780793088

Publisher: Perfection Learning, 1745

Synopsis

Presents a history of aeronautical sports, including ballooning, skydiving, airplane racing, flying circuses, and military dogfights.

About this title

Reviews

Don't let the title fool you: this is about more than "extreme" flight-related sports. It's a history of flight, emphasizing the part played by the urge to compete. With a tip of the hat to Leonardo da Vinci's sketches, Hopkins discusses everything from balloons, early airplanes, and barnstormers to military planes and airplane racing. Famous fliers appear in a less-familiar competitive guise, and women pilots and daredevils receive ample attention. Opening and closing with an exciting description of modern-day pylon races, the book emphasizes the thrill of flight while never minimizing its dangers. The layout, with short paragraphs and plenty of white space, is uncluttered, even with the many attractive, informative photographs. Some pictures take background for granted: a picture of the Hindenburg, for instance, is not captioned. The language isn't elegant, but it's easy to read, contemporary, and not condescending, making the book a good choice for high-school "emergent readers." Neither a bibliography nor a list of Internet sites is included. Catherine Andronik
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Perfection Learning
• Publication date: 1745
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0780793080
• ISBN 13: 9780780793088
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Aspengren Michael A.
• Number of pages: 64