John Alcock and Teddy Whitten-Brown (Alcock and Brown) were the first men to fly the Atlantic Ocean non stop. What about all the other men who were trying to do the same thing at the same time. Just before World War I, Alfred, Lord Northcliffe had put up 10,000 pound prize for the first person to fly the Atlantic. The war plus the lack of an aircraft capable of making the journey delayed things until 1919 when five parties went to Newfoundland to make the attempt. Rowe chronicles the adversities faced by each group and what became of their efforts. In the process, he has written a brief history of the history of flight not to mention, a very readable one.

I had always known that John Alcock and Teddy Whitten-Brown (Alcock and Brown) were the first men to fly the Atlantic Ocean non stop. What I did not know was about all the other men who were trying to do the same thing at the same time. Just before World War I, Alfred, Lord Northcliffe had put up 10,000 pound prize for the first person to fly the Atlantic. The war plus the lack of an aircraft capable of making the journey delayed things until 1919 when five parties went to Newfoundland to make the attempt. Rowe chronicles the adversities faced by each group and what became of their efforts. In the process, he has written a brief history of the history of flight not to mention, a very readable one. ( )