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9th out of 139 books
—
45 voters
East To The Dawn: The Life Of Amelia Earhart
by
Susan Butler
The myths surrounding the life and legacy of Amelia Earhart run the gamut from the mundane to the ridiculous. Since her disappearance in 1937, people have questioned not only her actual death, but many aspects of her life, including the nature of the relationship with her husband, the flamboyant publishing magnate George Palmer Putnam, and even her very competency as a fli...more
Hardcover, 512 pages
Published
October 16th 1997
by Da Capo Press
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Susan Butler has written a biography about a great American adventurer. Everyone today knows Amelia Earhart as a famous flier from the days when aviators were constantly fascinating the public with their, often deadly, exploits. The 1960's captivation of the public with the voyages of the astronauts had its origin in the worship of pilots who first flew from one city to the next, across a continent, to the poles or across an ocean. Amelia is rightly remembered as one of these pilots but, as Butl...more
An excellent updated biography of Earhart that adds family letters and diaries to the historical record. Butler describes the personality of Earhart in her own words, using quotes from those who knew her to make an author's judgment from among conflicting descriptions. Earhart was a meticulous planner and experienced pilot, who nonetheless has personality quirks of her own. The book also has the best description that I've seen of her involvement with Purdue University and the Purdue Research Fou...more
A long, scholarly biography of iconic Amelia Earhart, the opening chapters which trace her ancestry and happy childhood living with a grandmother are rather tedious. Once the reader learns of her alcoholic father and the mother who refuses to leave him, the story takes on interest. While we all know of Amelia as a daring aviatrix, I had no idea her other vocation in life was social work, that she designed a clothing line, and worked as a strong advocate for women in all fields. While this autho...more
After reading this incredible book by Susan Butler i have a great appreciation for Amelia Earhart and all that she did for aviation and women during her time. so many people are only taught that she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo and she was a great aviatrix and about her unfortunate death and nothing else. Earhart was an extrodinary person, she was brilliant and courageous. how many people knew that not long before she disappeared she taught at Perdu University in Michigan on av...more
A very readable biography of the first woman who flew solo across the Atlantic and various flying records during her time, outlining her family circumstance from her grandparent's time till her disappearance in a round the world attempt. Her achievements are all the more remarkable considering the prevailing view was that women were the weaker sex, to be confined to house making, during those times. Amelia was not only a gutsy flyer, she was a feminist who was ahead of her time, and stridently a...more
Jun 10, 2011
Sarah Booth
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in Women's Empowerment.
A complete in depth research and overview of Amelia Earhart's life. As has been mentioned by one reviewer, the book does go on a bit much about her relatives and those who were the responsible for bringing her into this world and what their lives were like than may have been necessary, but sometimes it's good to have a solid foundation to see into a persons life as it was fashioned by the people raising them. The story covered Amelia's great achievements and her private personal life that might...more
The first biography I've read in a very long time; took me a lot of pages to adapt to the style and I could have used a family tree to help keep track of all the Amelia/Amy/Millie's in the first section. And there were more Amy's later! Interesting.
I ended up with a grudging respect for Amelia but also a dislike. Maybe she became real to me? I'll think about it some more.
What I really loved was the moment before I started the text, when I was dragging my thumb down the edge of the pages in searc...more
I ended up with a grudging respect for Amelia but also a dislike. Maybe she became real to me? I'll think about it some more.
What I really loved was the moment before I started the text, when I was dragging my thumb down the edge of the pages in searc...more
I loved this book. I never was much interested in Amelia Earhart until I heard the author interviewed on NPR which piqued my interest. I'm always interested in reading stories of strong women. Although I didn't agree on her views of marriage, I admire what a feminist she was way before her time. She wasn't just a pretty face. Although the beginning of the book is a bit tedious delving into her family, it provides a foundation for explaining how she became the person she was.
I enjoyed the audio v...more
I enjoyed the audio v...more
Really enjoyed this book. Amelia is very inspiring. Shows how to live if you want an eventful life. I especially enjoyed her poem courage.
Courage is the price which life exacts for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not, knows no release
From little things;
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear
Nor mountain heights, where bitter joy you can hear
The sound of wings.
How can life grant us boon of living, compensate,
For dull gray ugliness and pregnant hate
Unless we dare
The soul's dominion? Each tim...more
Courage is the price which life exacts for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not, knows no release
From little things;
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear
Nor mountain heights, where bitter joy you can hear
The sound of wings.
How can life grant us boon of living, compensate,
For dull gray ugliness and pregnant hate
Unless we dare
The soul's dominion? Each tim...more
According to the back text, the author took a decade researching this book, and it shows for better *and* for worse. The first third or so dragged by--yes, I'm interested in Amelia's family and childhood, but I don't really care what her parents wore to the Des Moines winter concert series in 1912. There were so many details that didn't seem to have much relevance to who she was or who she became that I got frustrated at times.
The latter parts of the book, especially after she begins flying, pi...more
The latter parts of the book, especially after she begins flying, pi...more
This is an interesting biography of Amelia Earhart. Listened to the Audible edition. While the book was narrated well, I think that I would have preferred to have read the book as I missed some of the story when distracted in traffic.
I was bored with the beginning....as it described Earhart's family history. There were too many family members named Amelia or Amy! But,once that was passed, I enjoyed hearing Amelia's life story. She was a remarkable woman. This book would be especially interestin...more
I was bored with the beginning....as it described Earhart's family history. There were too many family members named Amelia or Amy! But,once that was passed, I enjoyed hearing Amelia's life story. She was a remarkable woman. This book would be especially interestin...more
A really terrific work. I can't say how much I learned from and enjoyed this audio. The only thing that kept it from being 5 stars was a certain bit of repetitiveness. (OK, OK, Amelia had "level grey eyes", UNCLE!) Part of it was due to the structure of the book. Butler followed themes, sometimes from start to finish, so certain bits were repeated, and at times, the chronology was hard to figure out since it went back and forth a lot. But overall, you really should read (or listen, Anna Fields i...more
A most fascinating subject, written in such a tedious, lackluster, flat style. I almost gave up on this audio version several times but I am so interesting in Amelia that I made up my mind I would get through this book if it killed me. There are great nuggets of the life of Amelia tucked into the dry uninteresting lists of facts that tries to pass for writing. Sorry but this book is bad. I don't want to read about every person that Amelia ever interacted with and what they wore and who their par...more
Oct 12, 2011
Richard
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
aviation,
20th-century-america-pre-ww-ii
If there's one thing that everyone knows about Amelia Earhart, it's that she was an early aviator who disappeared while flying over the ocean. While her death has become legendary, her life isn't as well known. She was a superstar in her day, and a very intelligent and capable woman. (Given that, it's a shame that she's become best known for her failure instead of her many successes.)
East to the Dawn started slowly. Very slowly. Susan Butler provided way too much information about Earhart's gre...more
East to the Dawn started slowly. Very slowly. Susan Butler provided way too much information about Earhart's gre...more
As others who have reviewed this book have noted, this is the definitive, best-researched book on Amelia Earhart's life that has been published to date. What's interesting to me is that all of the reviewers go on, after stating this fact, to give glowing reviews to Earhart's life, and translate that to the book itself. While Earhart's life and personality are fascinating, the style of this book is tedious, and reading it was drudgery interspersed with a few surprising tidbits. I only forced myse...more
2 likes · like · see review
Susan Butler's "East to the Dawn: the life of Amelia Earhart," is hands-down the best book I have read about Amelia Earhart. It was meticulously researched (it took her 10 years to research and write the book, and it shows) and also included insights into the life of this early 20th Century feminist that could only have been provided by a woman author. In much the same way that Doris Goodwin Kearns brought a woman's insight into the White House life of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt in "No Ordin...more
I don't read many biographies because I usually find them too dense and filled with boring details that I'm not interested in. That's how I felt about the first few chapters of this book. Butler did an amazing job finding details from Earhart's childhood but a lot of it was not what readers are interested in...let's be honest, we all want to read her biography to hear about her flying escapades, not her childhood friends and that time they played games in the barn. However, after getting through...more
I listened to this as an audio book and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed learning about the history of Amelia what family and her Philadelphia roots. I loved learning about her strength, steadfastness, and determined nature. And even though I knew the ending, I was able fascinated throughout the book.
It is a tragic that the audio book performer, Anna Fields (Kate Fleming), also did suddenly at almost the same age. I was thrilled when I heard her voice as the narrator. She does an amazing delivery...more
It is a tragic that the audio book performer, Anna Fields (Kate Fleming), also did suddenly at almost the same age. I was thrilled when I heard her voice as the narrator. She does an amazing delivery...more
Like with so many non-fiction or biographies with a sad finish, it’s always hard to not want a different ending. One surprise that I had listening to this book was that Amelia was more of an active feminist in her time than I had realized. I didn’t know how hard she had purposely worked to get equality and recognition for the accomplishments of women. Still inspiring over 70 years after she disappeared.
This is the biography of Amelia Earhart, and it's so interesting. Can you believe that when she began to fly, women pilots were not allowed to fly when they were on their menses!!!!!!!!! (Well, you know how Crazy and unstable we women are). This is just one of so many interesting views of the times that she had to overcome to make her dreams come true. It's a great read--very well written.
The definitive Earhart biography. The pace at first borders on tedious, but the care in Butler's research pays off. Every detail of Earhart's family history builds to form the most fleshed out picture of the aviatrix to date. Included here, often unexplored details about Earhart's relationship with Gene Vidal--Gore Vidal's father.
This is how one does exhaustive biography.
This is how one does exhaustive biography.
I am ashamed to admit that I knew so little about Ameila Earhart before watching the movie, Amelia, with Hilary Swank. I was fascinated by the many scopes of her person and was thrilled to find East to the Dawn. Susan Butler appeared to research AE's life to the nth degree. I found the book to be comprehensive, very readable, and quite informative. Not only was Amelia Earhart an aviator and a feminist, she was a well-respected lecturer, a successful businesswoman, and a caring social worker. Tha...more
One of the best books written about this amazing woman. Whom did much to push equal rights for women at the same time having many adventures. The author Susan Butler spent years on her research and her careful insight to the years of her life is shown in the pages of this book. The authors personal interest in the forming of the early female pilots due to her grandmother who was a member of the ninety nines. An organization formed by Amelia Earhart.
Im just sorry, I waited so long to read this bo...more
Im just sorry, I waited so long to read this bo...more
I think this was well researched and well written. I would have rated it higher if I'd felt more of a connection to Amelia Earhart. I thought I'd really like her as a person, and while I certainly admire her courage and daring, there were other things about her that I just didn't respect or like. As far as famous aviator biographies go, I preferred Lindbergh's.
This is a fascinating look at Amelia Earhart - and when the narrative is about her it's great. Unfortunately the author felt the need to tell more background about people who knew and/or were related to Amelia that was necessary - and as a result the book often feels bloated and overwhelmingly wordy. This would have been a great book if about 1/3 of it had been cut - do we really need to know about her grandparents and all her cousins in such detail? Could have been 5 stars.
Very interesting book with great details about the perils of flying in the early 20th century. According to Susan Butler, often to get airborne equipment and fuel had to be dumped. Apparently the radio gear needed to hear the distress call had been left behind on that final flight.
Ever since I was a little girl, I've been fascinate by Amelia.. I've been to the traveling exhibit in washington and have read a variety of book, including her own. But I must say, I was expecting much more from this book and was disappointed by this book. It seemed the author didn't have enough material and filled it wit useless fluff. I don't care what Amelia's father's preacher wore...or what he drove. It doesn't have any effect on the story of Amelia.
Thank God I listened to this book instead of trying to read it. 15 audio CD's later and I stick by my original comment...where was a good editor when Susan Butler needed one! In spite of what an appealing character Amelia was, there is WAY too much detail in this book. She apparently researched it for 10 years and couldn't bring herself to leave anything out. That said I still enjoyed listening to it, and I am absolutely fascinated by Amelia. She was a great champion for women and crusaded while...more
RE: _East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart_ by Susan Butler
IMDb mentions this book in the writing credits of the 2009 movie, "Amelia". See the IMDb page at:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129445/f...
IMDb mentions this book in the writing credits of the 2009 movie, "Amelia". See the IMDb page at:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129445/f...
1 like · like · see review
Her life was fascinating. The book was not. It was really well researched but it was so hard to read. I had to force myself to keep going. I'm glad I did because she was amazing and her contributions were many.
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08 juin 19:38