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Narrator Rating (19)

The Wright Brothers

Unabridged Audio Book

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David McCullough

10 Hours 2 Minutes

Simon & Schuster Audio

May 2015

Audio Book Summary

The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.

On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.

In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).

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Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Good listen.

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  • James D.

    How much better can a book on history be written and appeal to everyone?? It can’t. A very easy read and so well written you can’t put it down. A great read for anyone looking for a wonderful story and the best part is it’s 100% actual history!

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  • Chai T.

    It's an interesting story about the Wright Brothers' pain and effort inventing the first airplane. Unfortunately, the narrator's voice is not that clear to me.

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  • Rich

    Upon moving to the Dayton area I thought it would be good to actually know more than a second grader about the Wright Brothers. This book is a very interesting and comprehensive look at how these two amazing men accomplished what was at the time little more than an impossible dream. Both the writing and the narration are 5 Star!

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  • Rob N

    The book is a gem. Dreamers who refused to give up, who remained humble and loyal to their family and to their dream, the Wright Brothers were risk-takers who had total support from their two older brothers, their amazing sister Katharine, and their patient and proud dad. What a family! What a story! This is David McCullough at his very best.

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  • James L

    Excellent! An interesting history .

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  • Andy Clark

    This is a David McCullough book, need I say more? Very well written and researched. If you like history, planes, Americana, or stories of triumph then this book is for you. Enjoy!

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  • Robin Bailie

    Awesome!!

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  • Karen Jacobson

    I really enjoyed The Wright Brothers. Anything by David McCullough is going to be thorough and well- researched. When you think of the impact of flight achievement on our way of life currently, from air travel, warfare, space travel, space travel and satellites, the impact is staggering. I was particularly interested in listening to this because my father was one of those young men that dreamed of flying and left the farm where he grew up against his father's wishes to join the Air Force and fly planes in WW II. What the Wright's achieved thru their genius, methodical and meticulous work and diligence was amazing and beat out other entrepreneurs thru out the world.

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  • Elly Loeser

    It's a fascinating story. Never learned the extent of the Wright's contribution to first flight. I, though, am not a fan of McCullough's narration. To much slurring of words and throat rattle.

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