Wright Brothers, Wrong Story: How Wilbur Wright Solved the Problem of Manned Flight

by William Elliott azelgrove

This book is the first deconstruction of the Wright Brothers' myth. They were not -- as we have all come to believe--two halves of the same apple. Each had a distinctive role in creating the first "flying machine."

How could two misanthropic brothers who never left home, were high-school dropouts, and made a living as bicycle mechanics have figured out the secret of manned flight? This new history of the Wright Brothers' monumental accomplishment focuses on their early years of trial and error at Kitty Hawk (1900-1903) and Orville Wright's epic fight with the Smithsonian Institute and Glenn Curtis. William Hazelgrove makes a convincing case that it was Wilbur Wright who designed the first successful airplane, not Orville. He shows that, while Orville's role was important, he generally followed his brother's lead and assisted with the mechanical details to make Wilbur's vision a reality.
Combing through original archives and family letters, Hazelgrove reveals the differences in the brothers' personalities and abilities. He examines how the Wright Brothers' myth was born when Wilbur Wright died early and left his brother to write their history with personal friend John Kelly. The author notes the peculiar inwardness of their family life, business and family problems, bouts of depression, serious illnesses, and yet, rising above it all, was Wilbur's obsessive zeal to test out his flying ideas. When he found Kitty Hawk, this desolate location on North Carolina's Outer Banks became his laboratory. By carefully studying bird flight and the Rubik's Cube of control, Wilbur cracked the secret of aerodynamics and achieved liftoff on December 17, 1903.
Hazelgrove's richly researched and well-told tale of the Wright Brothers' landmark achievement captures the excitement of the times at the start of the "American century."

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Science, Aviation, American History

332 pages, Hardcover

Published December 4, 2018

About the author

"An absolutely riveting story as only William Hazelgrove can write."
Janet Parshall The Janet Parshall Show Moody Radio

AS FEATURED ON JANET PARSHALL SHOW ON MOODY RADIO Propelled by idealism and determination, Jay and Lauren set out to cycle around the world. Believing in the essential goodness of humanity, the couple find kindness and hospitality while slogging through desert sand in Namibia, fleeing an enraged elephant in Botswana, and enduring freezing rain in Spain. William Elliott Hazelgrove's gripping account, reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, chronicles Jay and Lauren's epic journey toward an encounter with terrorists who decide that slaughtering these youthful seekers will serve ISIS's cause.” ―Doug Kari, author of The Berman Murders

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW OF EVIL ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD
Novelist and historian Hazelgrove (Hemingway's Attic) recounts the fate of American cyclists Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, who were slain by terrorists in Tajikistan in 2018, in this chilling true crime tale. Drawing from the couple's blog and interviews with their friends and family, Hazelgrove portrays Jay as a charismatic idealist who convinced Lauren to give up her job to follow him on a four-year bike trip around the globe, beginning in South Africa and ending in South America. In Africa, they faced charging elephants, flies, and malaria; in Europe, they dealt with suspicious officials and a few gnarly crashes. Still, they pushed forward for two years, winding up in Central Asia's Pamir Mountains (nicknamed the "Roof of the World"). In Tajikistan, a group of young men radicalized by ISIS stalked and ambushed the couple after encountering them on a highway; four were then killed by local police, while the ringleader died in an American prison. Hazelgrove's prose is utilitarian ("Jay and Lauren ride on into Botswana, which proves to be flat, arid, wild, and hot"), letting the facts of the case carry the narrative forward. For the most part, the approach pays off, lending the account an unsettling air. Readers will be aghast.



PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW OF DEAD AIR THE NIGHT ORSON WELLES TERRIFIED AMERICA 8/8/24
RELEASE OCT 30 2024
In this fine-grained account, historian Hazelgrove (Writing Gatsby) chronicles the mass hysteria that accompanied Orson Welles’s infamous 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds. Hazelgrove presents Welles as an actor of immense ambition and preternatural talent, noting that by age 22, he had put on headline-grabbing plays (the government shut down his 1937 production of The Cradle Will Rock, fearing its pro-labor themes would be incendiary) and traveled around New York City in a faux ambulance to move more quickly between his numerous radio and theatrical commitments. The author recounts the rushed scriptwriting process for War of the Worlds and offers a play-by-play of the broadcast, but he lavishes the most attention on the havoc Welles wreaked. Contemporaneous news accounts reported college students fighting to telephone their parents, diners rushing out of restaurants without paying their bills, families fleeing to nearby mountains to escape the aliens’ poisonous gas, and even one woman’s attempted suicide. Hazelgrove largely brushes aside contemporary scholarship questioning whether the hysteria’s scope matched the sensational news reports, but he persuasively shows how the incident reignited elitist fears that “Americans were essentially gullible morons” and earned Welles the national recognition he’d yearned for. It’s a rollicking portrait of a director on the cusp of greatness. (Nov.)






WGN CHICAGO INTERVIEW ON WRITING GATSBY https://wgnradio.com/after-hours-with...

WRITING GATSBY THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE WRITING OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVEL
TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIewK...



ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT ON 160 MINUTES THE RACE TO SAVE THE RM

Reviews

[Amy Bruestle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC through a giveaway in return for an honest review...

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Although non-fiction books like this one are generally not my cup of tea, I was intrigued by the title and from there went on to learn more. This book took me a while to read, as the font is teeny-tiny (at least in the ARC version), and non-fiction books just don’t seem to read as quickly as others generally.

I always enjoy learning new things, especially things that relate to history. So this book was great for that! Other than that, I don’t really have much else to say about it. It’s hard to review a non-fiction book, as you can’t dispute the facts, and my experience in doing so is limited, therefore I added a short review that I did not write, however I 100% agree with because I was having a hard time finding the right (or should I say “Wright” lol) words myself. So here’s that:

This book is the first deconstruction of the Wright brothers myth. They were not — as we have all come to believe–two halves of the same apple. Each had a distinctive role in creating the first “flying machine.”

How could two misanthropic brothers who never left home, were high-school dropouts, and made a living as bicycle mechanics have figured out the secret of manned flight? This new history of the Wright brothers’ monumental accomplishment focuses on their early years of trial and error at Kitty Hawk (1900-1903) and Orville Wright’s epic fight with the Smithsonian Institute and Glenn Curtis. William Hazelgrove makes a convincing case that it was Wilbur Wright who designed the first successful airplane, not Orville. He shows that, while Orville’s role was important, he generally followed his brother’s lead and assisted with the mechanical details to make Wilbur’s vision a reality.
Combing through original archives and family letters, Hazelgrove reveals the differences in the brothers’ personalities and abilities. He examines how the Wright brothers myth was born when Wilbur Wright died early and left his brother to write their history with personal friend John Kelly. The author notes the peculiar inwardness of their family life, business and family problems, bouts of depression, serious illnesses, and yet, rising above it all, was Wilbur’s obsessive zeal to test out his flying ideas. When he found Kitty Hawk, this desolate location on North Carolina’s Outer Banks became his laboratory. By carefully studying bird flight and the Rubik’s Cube of control, Wilbur cracked the secret of aerodynamics and achieved liftoff on December 17, 1903.

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up in Dayton, Ohio, just a few miles from where the Wright brothers built the first airplane. There are few places in the world where so much of our technology has been invented. You’ve no doubt used three inventions created by Daytonians this week alone. Do you own a car? The starter, the shock absorbers, and sundry other things were invented in Dayton. Drink out of a can? Both the pull-tab and pop-top cans were invented in Dayton. The list goes on, but the airplane is the marquee invention.

I was even privileged to meet one of the Wright brothers’ nieces when I was a kid, because someone in my school knew the Wrights and asked her to visit. (I also got to meet Neil Armstrong the same way; he’s from a small town just north of Dayton. It’s not an over-populated part of the country, is what I’m saying.)

So the revelation that Wilbur was the real brains behind the airplane’s invention has never been a mystery to me. Orville was a gifted mechanic, to be sure, but Wilbur was an authentic genius. This book goes hard on that aspect, really hammering home the point. To the point where it begins to sound a little strident. The constant repetition was tedious, honestly, and I kept forgetting where I was in the book because it all sounded the same. I felt like I had just read this information, because I had.

Another detriment was that he doesn’t make the timeline of events very clear. I do wonder how someone not steeped in Wright lore could keep everything straight, to be honest.

All that said, it is an interesting story and pretty well told. If you’ve never read anything about the Wrights, this is a decent book to peruse, because Hazelgrove hits all the high points.

[Chad E Spilman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize there was so much controversy over what was the right Wright story. Who was the first man powered flyer? Over the patents and the proof to get them. Over Wilbur who actually invented the flight technology and put all the components together to fly around in the sky instead of just gliding down from an elevated structure. I didn't know there was fraud that occurred by the Smithsonian to discredit the Wright brothers as being the first man powered flight that lasted decades and rectified in the 40's. Many more interesting facts in this story include the fatality that occurred during one of Orville's flights to show the military that the Wright brother's plane can fly.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found many of the sections interesting, but I don't feel like it brought anything new to the history of the Wright Brothers. Well organized and well written.

[Marcia Hubbard · Rating 1 out of 5]

More Wrongs than Wrights

Do we really need another book about the Wright brothers, especially when there’s an infinite number already out there? Yes, indeed, we do. But is this the one we need? Where are the honest corrections to the errors the Wright biographers continue to assert and to repeat ad infinitum?
The title of William Hazelgrove’s new book, “Wright Brothers Wrong Story,” promises much. But to serious historians, it’s a big disappointment. Is there anything different to the century old story? Not much.

The main theme of the book is that after Wilbur Wright died, his younger brother Orville slanted the story of aviation history to enhance his own contributions to flight, to the detriment of Wilbur, the true genius. Most of us who have studied the history already knew that story.

However, a genuine critique of the Hazelgrove book and its DNA ancestors is a walk through closely-set landmines. First, the book is being pushed by the Smithsonian Institution: old friends of the Wright family and publishers of the Brothers’ statements. There are also the loyalists, who can be explosive if anybody questions the generally accepted history first disseminated by both brothers. They cherish as fact nearly every word the Wrights said.

But for the sake of history’s great pioneer aviators, I’m compelled to say (at my peril!): this book doesn’t qualify as an expert study, a “deconstruction,” or even a very educated attempt at exploration, despite the liberal sprinklings of footnotes and references. In fact, it adds many new errors to the original ones.

Proof exists that a great deal of the Wright story is a wonderfully intricate fable, invented by both brothers, not only Orville. The 1908 “Century” publication has the byline of both brothers, but was written by Orville when Wilbur was in France. However, Wilbur didn’t object to Orville’s claims that he was first to fly December 17, 1903. For the record, Orville’s “flight” was a brief uncontrolled hop that crashed. The witnesses said it was launched from a hill.

Here are a few more of the solid facts to back up some of my criticism. As others stated, the famous Dayton flood was in 1913, not 1914. The Wright sister’s name is spelled “Katharine,” not “Katherine.” For the record, Fred Kelly’s 1943 book “The Wright Brothers: A Biography Authorized by Orville Wright” was not the first Wright biography, as Hazelgrove claims. Hazelgrove does mention the writing of an earlier attempt by the family friend Earl Findley. Orville refused to approve it because he said it was “too chatty.” He more likely rejected it because it contained firsthand observations he didn’t want the public to know, such as what the brothers really spent to “fly” (much more than $1000) and sources of the money.

But Findley’s coauthor John R. McMahon, without Orville’s approval, went ahead and published the first biography I know of way back in 1928, “The Wright Brothers Pioneers of Flight.” I have a hardbound copy in front of me. Wilbur died in 1912, and the book is a result of Findley and McMahon’s close association with Orville. With lines like “The younger brother [Orville] was ever in the throes of creative ecstasy ... Despite a popular belief to the contrary, he had more initiative than Wilbur. He was the prime mover and originator….” Orville’s self-aggrandizing “history” is on full display, and hardly a new discovery.

There are too many more errors in Hazelgrove's new book to confront in a short review.

The great aviation pioneers who truly discovered the so called "secrets" of flight are given short shrift, not mentioned, or called wrong in their formulas and calculations. They were not wrong. Orville Wright was promoting the Wright agenda. What's more, neither brother truly understood the research, such as what gives a wing lift until years after they "flew" although some of their peers did. Google "Bernoulli's Principle". Their wing warping technique was resoundingly rejected as time went on, and it's a fact they didn't invent ailerons or winglets or wing twisting for lateral control.

On the positive side, Hazelgrove is a great author of entertaining fiction. The arrangement of the book is interesting and the mythical conversations, thoughts, and speculations are fascinating. However, since this is an attempt at nonfiction, he is pouring more salt on aviation history’s many wounds. Correcting all the errors in this book and the prior “Wright histories” thought as Bibles will make wonderful books. Technical truths contradicting the Wright story are already being uncovered by aeronautical engineer Joe Bullmer in “The WRight [sic] Story” 2009. Researchers also need to google “truth in aviation history.”

[Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘It is hard to get flesh and bones on these two men.’

Chicago author William Hazelgrove has developed a significant following as the author of ten novels and four works of nonfiction - Ripples, Tobacco Sticks, Mica Highways, Rocket Man, The Pitcher, Real Santa, Jack Pine, Hemingway’s Attic, My Best Year, The Bad Author, Madam President, Forging a President, Shots Fired in Terminal 2, and now Wright Brothers Wrong Story. While his books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly and Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections and optioned for the movie, his major appeal is in his humanitarian approach to stories. William stays close too the heart in each of his stories, making each tale he spins one with which everyone can relate on an immediate or a remembered level. In this particular book he is attempting to set the record straight on who really solved the problem of manned flight.

His synopsis of the event/book outlines it very well: ‘This book is the first deconstruction of the Wright brothers myth. They were not -- as we have all come to believe--two halves of the same apple. Each had a distinctive role in creating the first "flying machine." How could two misanthropic brothers who never left home, were high-school dropouts, and made a living as bicycle mechanics have figured out the secret of manned flight? This new history of the Wright brothers' monumental accomplishment focuses on their early years of trial and error at Kitty Hawk (1900-1903) and Orville Wright's epic fight with the Smithsonian Institute and Glenn Curtis. William Hazelgrove makes a convincing case that it was Wilbur Wright who designed the first successful airplane, not Orville. He shows that, while Orville's role was important, he generally followed his brother's lead and assisted with the mechanical details to make Wilbur's vision a reality. Combing through original archives and family letters, Hazelgrove reveals the differences in the brothers' personalities and abilities. He examines how the Wright brothers myth was born when Wilbur Wright died early and left his brother to write their history with personal friend John Kelly. The author notes the peculiar inwardness of their family life, business and family problems, bouts of depression, serious illnesses, and yet, rising above it all, was Wilbur's obsessive zeal to test out his flying ideas. When he found Kitty Hawk, this desolate location on North Carolina's Outer Banks became his laboratory. By carefully studying bird flight and the Rubik's Cube of control, Wilbur cracked the secret of aerodynamics and achieved liftoff on December 17, 1903. Hazelgrove's richly researched and well-told tale of the Wright brothers' landmark achievement, illustrated with rare historical photos, captures the excitement of the times at the start of the "American century."

Though there are those who disagree with William’s summary, all must admit that it is healthy to revisit history and re-examine the permutations. The book is an interesting and informative one: William Hazelgrove continues to grow as a writer of importance whose breadth of interest in topics for novels is truly astonishing.

[Steve Majerus-Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, let me say that William Hazelgrove can pound out some pretty good prose. He's a real writer, one with insight and a gift for the language. Though he goes overboard sometimes, I can forgive that because some of this book is genuinely delightful.
Now let's get to the meat of it: This volume aims to take down the myth that the Wright Brothers, together, took mankind into the skies. Its argument boils down to its oft-repeated insistence that Wilbur, not Orville, did most of the heavy lifting and deserves the bulk of the credit. They weren't an equal pair. One was a genius, the other smart enough to go along for the ride.
I've always had more than a passing interest in the Wright Brothers, no doubt because my father was in the Air Force and I lived just a short way from the fields where Orville and Wilbur perfected their primitive planes. The idea that they were flying in motorized kites in the same spot where bombers, fighter jets and even the SR-71 whizzed past in my youth was exciting in its way.
So I've read quite a bit over the years, gawked at museum exhibits and otherwise became familiar with these two odd men from Dayton, where I lived for eight years. And I must confess that I never had the idea that Orville was the equal of his brother. It always seemed like Wilbur, who had the misfortune of dying at an early age (from typhoid, not a crash), was the brains of the operation. So I read Hazelgrove's book with a bit of confusion about why he was harping so much against what seemed to me to be a straw man argument. Don't we all know that Wilbur brought the intellectual firepower to this world-changing discovery?
Then there's the notion that Orville was not just lesser but replaceable, not an indispensable part of an immortal pairing. I don't buy that either. There must be many geniuses who never manage to pull it all together, to translate their visions and insights into something practical and real. Without Orville, it's not clear to me that Wilbur would be remembered for anything at all. They were a team, a couple, a pairing for the ages, each adding something vital to the mix.
So as I read, over and over, as Hazelgrove touted Wilbur and dismissed Orville, I had a single thought that came up repeatedly: What horseshit.
My other problem with this book is that it badly needed better editing. I can't even begin to recite all the times that the same information, often using the same words, was repeated within a few pages. That drives a careful reader crazy. Does the author think I can't retain some basic point or piece of information for five minutes or so? It's maddening. It shouldn't happen, though I suspect Hazelgrove was in a hurry to get this book out on the market to take advantage of interest spurred by David McCullough's recent volume on the brothers.
In any case, I have hopes that something else by Hazelgrove might shine. This book doesn't.

[Jason Braatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, the bad: The author's writing style is a bit unnatural and jumps around so much, reading this book is almost like reading a high-school paper. I can't deduct a star though since to me a non-fiction book is about substance, not eloquence.

Second, the good: From a substance perspective, this is an interesting foray into a commonly known story but not a commonly known truth about the Wright Brother's. The author does a great job of connecting the facts to make the argument that it was Wilbur, not Orville, who should really be front-and-center as the man who invented flight. Since he passed away prior to Wilbur and (as the author lays out in context) there was a myriad of patent litigation going on at the time, undoubtedly the story became two brothers "of equals" for protectionist reasons by Orville. From this vantage point, it makes perfect sense and the author did a great job in the bibliography pointing out his sources for it.

I've not read anything prior to this on the Wright Brother's, so much of this was new (to me). Honestly what drew me to the book was the title, I believe that because I didn't know enough of the story, I was curious to hear about it. The author does a great job with bringing up sometimes perhaps commonly-known information in such a way as to not overburden his thesis yet it's great to be introduced to it for those who haven't previously studied this story.

Outside of some unnecessary side narratives and the writing style in general, I'd recommend this book on it's substance. It's well researched and clearly has been thought through on different angles presenting an argument that's not commonly found in literature for the Wright Brothers.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading Wright brothers wrong story I knew that there were two wright brothers and they flew a plane at kitty hawk.

I had no idea they never married or had children and lived with their father and sister. I supposed I assumed that had married and had children.

And I also learned that the first flight on film was on December 17, 1903 with Orville flying the plane. I had thought that the first flight was around 1912.

I also liked learning about Samuel Langley and his 50 thousand dollar aerodrome and its failure to fly and then the Smithsonian attempt to make it appear that it did fly by having Glenn Curtiss modify and have a pilot fly the plane in 1914 so as to make it appear that it could have flown before the wright brothers 1903 flyer.

I also enjoyed learning about Glenn Curtiss who made motorcycles then went into making planes and his battles with the Wrights over their patent.

Another person I learning about who stick out for me after reading the book is Orville wrights Secretary Mabel Beck.

By reading Wright Brothers wrong story I learned interesting things about the Wright Brothers that I did not know about before reading the book. I learned about their home life, that Wilber was the driving force behind flying, Wilber Built a wind tunnel to test designs, Wilber died in 1912. I did not know that he died so many years before Orville. In fact I had never even wondered when the Wright brothers died.

And other thing that surprised me from the book is that for a few years after the 1903 flight at kitty hawk was that people did not believe that actually flew a plane. I thought people would have believed them soon after the first flight.

I found it to be a very readable and informative book about the Wright Brothers.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more of a 2.5 stars. The book utilizes a weirdly repetitive writing style that jumps back and forth between topics sometimes. I think the angle of the Wrights' personal/love lives is underdeveloped, instead just suggesting they were all gay maybe or incestuous? Also, for challenging the established story, it then suggests a few times that even the 1903 flyer wasn't the first true airplane, except it was because Wilbur was such a genius. It's rejecting the repeatability necessary for true science, while arguing Wilbur was the first true aeronautical scientist.

The idea that Wilbur was the driving force is relatively well stated, but I feel the book takes too much of an all or nothing approach to the argument. At least as much evidence is provided that Wilbur simply could not or would not have done what he did without the support of Orville and Katharine.

Still, it's a fine jumping off point if one wanted to further explore what was clearly a conflicting time period of collaboration and competition, clashing egos, methods and applications, and when seemingly disparate technologies like bicycles, machining, internal combustion engines, motorcycles, and airplanes were all advancing hand in hand.

[Susan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book. I am not interested much in the aerodynamics surrounding flight, either when the Wright brothers flew or today. I must admit I read the technical portions, but did not really understand the concepts. The joy in this book was the authors deep dive into the family relationships of the Wright Brothers and how the incidents of early life effected Wilber Wright in particularly. From this viewpoint the book revels the drive behind finding an answer to the statistical and mechanical mysteries of flight, which were primarily the domain of Wilber Wright. The author has done extensive research to uncover and bring forward here to fore facts which the primary biographer, John C. Kelly did not mention or shaded in his version which was authorized and review extensively by Orville Wright. Many subsequent biographies of the Wright Brothers relied heavily on the Kelly biography, so this new look is a breath of fresh air on the lives of these two important early airplane developers and flyers.

I donated this book to the Berkley Public Library in Berkley, MI.

[Shelly Itkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of Mr Hazelgrove as I am you will realize that from some of his former books like"and the "Al Capone in the 1933Worl's fair " you will always learn something new.

Many people were under the assumption that Orville was the one who designed the first successful airplane when in fact it was Wilbur.
Wilbur was four years older then his brother but many did not realize the age difference as they worked together from an early age.
Many obstacles such as serious illness and depression played a huge part in the brother's lives. Wilbur was kind of possessed with testing out and flying. When he found Kitty Hawk located on North Carolina's outer banks that were where he did all his research. After many unsuccessful attempts, he achieved a liftoff on December 17, 1903.

This book is very detailed and different than other books on the subject. Be prepared to go on a magical journey thru the lives of these two amazing brothers.

[Apex157x · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book Immensely. As a history lover, the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison are my 2 favorite inventors. The value of this book was it took a closer look behind the basic rote story I grew up with, that Wilbur was the main driving force behind the research etc., and I was not aware of the patent court cases between them and the Smithsonian. The author carefully laid out the background of all players, if you will, from their father and sister, Orville and Wilbur themselves and others that were part of the whole. Well done! Also was delightful to be able to "see" what took place at Kitty Hawk, the ups and downs of the experimentation and testing, the description of how Wilbur felt while flying and the disappointments as well. A whole new angle from the standard historical telling.

[Astrid Dupont]

Hey, your story honestly blew me away. It had such strong imagery that I could picture every scene as if it were playing out in front of me. The dialogue, pacing, and character expressions were all so vivid, it already feels halfway to being a comic.

I’m a commission artist who works with authors to adapt their stories into Webtoons, comics, and manga, and yours instantly stood out to me as something that could look absolutely stunning in that format.

If you’re down or want to see my work, you can find me on Discord (ava_crafts) or Instagram (eve_verse_).

[Mike McGrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second Wright Bros book and next will be Tom Crouch’s The Bishop’s Boys. This author took much of McCullough’s work and focused on Wilbur. The John Kelly biography was the very first authorized bio of the brothers and published in 1943, 31 years after Wilbur died. 12-17-1903 was the date of first controlled flight under power. Sad the Wright Flyer went to London Museum rather than Smithsonian. But after Orville died in 1948 it did get brought back to US after apologies by Museum mgmt.

[Larry Lutzak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great read if you do not know about the inaccuracies of the Orville Wright-approved biography. If you like historical review and accuracy, this account of the Wright brothers shows how it was really Wilbur Wight, not Orville, who was the sole inventor and conqueror of controlled flight. True, their is supposition in this account but the author takes great pains to set the record straight in supporting those suppositions with factual references.

[Rob Pruden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have visited the Kitty Hawk site and even did some hang gliding there, but knew very little about the Wright Brothers. As such this book was very interesting and I had no idea that Wilbur, due to his early passing, got written out of history to the extent that this author alleges. What I found most amusing was the thought of these two brothers in full wool suits running in the sands and sweltering heat of the Outer Banks; thank God I did not live in that era.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book about several aspects of the Wright's story I had not known. Wilbur was the brains as the book title says. However, its chapters sometimes read like a script for a multi part documentary with the narrator rehashing highlights of what was said in prior chapters as if one would forget after 5 minutes of reading. So gave it a 3 star for being OK.

[David Martuneac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot recommend enough. Easy and quick to read but packed with information. I purchased the book at my local barnes and noble while talking with the author who was having a book-signing there. The arguments and information are air-tight with an appropriate level of documentation.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the Wright Brothers my whole life; grew up on Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. This book forced me to re-think everything I've learned growing up; excellent storytelling and research!

[Darlene Stericker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling book describing the early history of flight. The author was a little repetitious in supporting his argument that Wilbur was the lone engineer (not Orville), but his argument seemed well supported. I believe that any reference to Gustave Whitehead was not in this book.

[Mariah Oleszkowicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and in-depth look at the thought process of manned flight. The last 1/3 of the book is about the Smithsonian argument so it's not as interesting. However, the part that Charles Lindbergh played was. I need to read The Bishop's Boys

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good informational text, but it doesn't bring anything new to the discussion and presents the information in the same old ways

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on the story. The author has an annoying habit of quoting the same sections of a letter multiple times in the same chapter.

[NonFiction 24/7 · Rating 2 out of 5]

To wordy, repeats some of the same things over. Some of the side stories don't help the book.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good general history book if you don't know the story.

[Erika DeMaggio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen, this story is fascinating. The writing is meh. He repeats himself a lot. Not just in theme, but sometimes verbatim between one page and the next.

[Vic Lauterbach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Described as a "richly researched and well-told tale" by the publisher, this book is actually a strange hybrid. As a record of events, it generally follows the Orville-blessed narrative laid out by Fred C. Kelly in The Wright Brothers (1943). Introduced on page 25, Kelly is inexplicably identified on page 325 as 'John' although the bibliography correctly attributes his work. Such sloppiness is a feature of this book. Howlers like the great Dayton flood happening in 1914 made me wonder about everything Hazelgrove writes. (The 1914 date was not a typo, as I first assumed. It occurs eight times.) The interpretive parts of this book promote Wilber to the singular genius who "invented the plane" and demotes Orville, Charlie Taylor and everyone else to mere helpers who enabled Wilber to realize his brilliant vision. Along with being demoted from partner to helper, Orville is blamed for the ultimate failure of the Wrights to capitalize on their 'invention' and for muddying the historical waters. All the contradictions and inaccuracies revealed since historians began comparing what the Wright brothers said after the fact to what they wrote at the time are blamed on Orville. Access to their preserved correspondence published in 1953 by Marvin Wilks McFarland has spawned much Wright revisionism, and at first glance Hazelgrove appears to be taking a revisionist approach, but his book accepts the entire Kelly-Orville narrative, only the emphasis is changed. Hazelgrove simply argues that it was Wilber, not both Wright brothers, who changed the world. Hazelgrove accepts that Orville deliberately rewrote history after Wilber died without addressing the implications of that deception. Before August 8, 1908, when Wilbur flew publicly for the first time, the only evidence that the Wrights flew in 1903 was their word. Wilber's place in history is secure only if we believe that he and Orville were completely truthful until 1912 when Orville became utterly unreliable. In 1915, Orville even rewrote the story of the historic 852-foot fourth flight on December 17, 1903, the feat that made Wilber the first man to fly, a crown he wore for 12 years. Hazelgrove provides no new information about the quirks and foibles of the Wrights which were exhaustively explored in The Bishop's Boys (2013). The best that can be said for this 'history' is that it will make any thoughtful reader wonder what really happened.

[Deborah Aponte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is different from what I usually read, but I really found it interesting. The history and the process that the Wright brothers went through to achieve manned flight was very informative. I learned a lot! And I am glad that the story was told the right way, giving the proper credit where it was due-to Wilbur Wright. Of course, Orville played an important role as well, but it seems clear from the evidence presented that Wilbur deserves the ultimate credit for solving the problem of manned flight and inventing the first airplane to sustain powered controlled flight while carrying a man. This book serves justice-giving credit where credit is due.
That being said, at times this main point of the book was reiterated too often, which made it seem a bit repetitive. Also, due to the subject matter, there are portions of the book that are very technical and challenging to understand. But I expected that because, after all, it is a book about a genius who discovered how to fly when no one else could. It is also about family and the loyalty of two brothers and their sister. It is more than a history book. I recommend this book.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I soooo hate to give this a low rating but... 6 stars for research; 1 star for presentation. The thesis is absolutely fascinating and the title says it all. Until now, historians-- even renowned ones like David McCullough-- have been basing their research on a false premise. Though it's only been recent that technology has granted access to a broad scope of information, even modern authors can't seem to see through the blatant contradictions and plot holes in the story of the history of human flight.

Unfortunately, the preface of this book summarizes pretty much everything you need to know. (Hence I didn't bother to finish the rest.) As history, especially biography, it's definitely interesting. The compilation of facts-- bolstered by ample research-- is commendable. However, research findings are interspersed with prose of amateur literary quality; awkward sentence structure notwithstanding, the narrative is painfully redundant. What a shame. Smh. Next time, pick a format and stick to it.