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Gabriela, Cravo e Canela
Jorge Amado
Progress: 157/358 pages
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph (The Authorized Doubleday/Doran Edition)
T.E. Lawrence
Progress: 189/672 pages
The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
G. Edward Griffin
Progress: 41/608 pages
Peter the Great
Robert K. Massie
Progress: 472/934 pages
Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty
Bradley K. Martin
A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge
Charles B. MacDonald
Progress: 191/712 pages
The German Army 1933-1945
Matthew Cooper
Progress: 198/598 pages
Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914-1918: The List Regiment
John F Williams
Progress: 22/238 pages

WHAT "WE" ACCOMPLISHED

We by Charles A. Lindbergh - Charles A Lindbergh, Sam Sloan, Fitzhugh Green Sr., Myron T. Herrick
I wonder how many people knew that Charles Lindbergh had written a book in 1927 shortly after he accomplished the remarkable feat of flying solo from New York to Paris? Until about a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea that "WE" existed. "WE" in the title was Lindbergh's way of referring to himself and the airplane ('The Spirit of St. Louis') that carried him across the ocean to Paris. He considered what he achieved in that flight not a singular accomplishment for him alone, but also for the plane. 

Most of the book is taken up with Lindbergh telling his life story, his brief time as a student of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, his initial training as a pilot in a flight school in Nebraska in 1922, his experiences barnstorming in the South and Midwest, his subsequent acceptance into the U.S. Army Air Service as an aviation cadet in 1924, his successful completion of his military training the following year (Lindbergh was made a reserve officer), followed by his service as an air mail pilot --- all of which led up to his undertaking the quest to carry out a transatlantic flight. A quest (as represented by the award of the $25,000 Orteig Prize for any aviator who succeeded in flying across the Atlantic) that had already been taken up by many of the world's renowned aviators --- without success. Many died in the attempt. 

The remainder of the book goes on to describe the reception Lindbergh received across Europe and the U.S. in May and June of 1927 after his record flight. 

I enjoyed reading this book so much. While there are aspects of Charles Lindbergh --- later manifested in his life when he became a controversial political voice with the America First isolationist movement pre-Pearl Harbor --- that I do not like, his achievements in aviation are AMAZING.