Wings of Madness : Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight

The story of man¿s struggle to fly is full of larger-than-life personalities, but none was so eccentric & so entertaining as Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian 'father of aviation¿. He was the darling of the international press in the first decade of the 20th century, hopping from Parisian restaurant to nightclub in his personal flying machine, circling the Eiffel Tower in his balloon or dining with the Rothschilds & Roosevelts. But he was depressed by the success of the Wright brothers in Kitty Hawk & by the increasing militarization of flight. He returned to Brazil only to be confronted by the horrors of civil war. ¿Hoffman tells the tale of Santos-Dumont & modern flight with wit & sympathy, showing us how often brilliance is coupled with tragedy.¿ Illustrations.Hoffman, Paul is the author of 'Wings of Madness : Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight', published 2008 under ISBN 9781422394113 and ISBN 1422394115.