Lindbergh

Rating:
Summary: Lucky Lindy? - You Be The Judge
Review: So how did a farm boy from the backwoods of Minnesota become one of the most revered heroes in world history?

Perhaps no book written about the ice-veined, brilliant aviator Charles A. Lindbergh answers this question better than A. Scott Berg's "Lindbergh", a marvelous, smoothly-written biography that uses heretofore unavailable sources to chronicle the unimaginable ups and equally unimaginable downs of Mr. Lindbergh's life.

The book is the first biography of Lindbergh that was written with the input and blessing of Lindbergh's family, including his widow, the noted author Anne Morrow Lindbergh. For the first time, the family granted unrestricted access to masses of material in the Lindbergh archives.

After reading this book, one concludes that two extreme forces shaped this great man's destiny.

The first was flight, taking off with his days as a barnstormer and airmail pilot, soaring with his courageous solo in a monoplane across the Atlantic, and coming to a soft but significant landing with the endeavors of his later life that involved not only aviation, but innovative projects in the fields of medicine and environmentalism. He also distinguished himself as an author (with, I suspect, the assistance of his wife, Anne, herself a talented writer.) In 1954, "The Spirit of St. Louis" the book won the Pulitzer Prize. It remains one of this country's most compelling, true-life adventure stories.

The second force was fame, the scourge of this extremely private man's life. Keep in mind that this was no normal fame, but a fame that bordered on fanaticism. It was fame that directly related to the kidnapping and death of his infant son, the family's exile to Europe, and the scorching criticism directed Lindbergh's way for his anti-war stance in the years preceding World War 11.

And although Mr. Berg's book was written with the cooperation of the Lindbergh family, it doesn't gloss over the consequences of his remote personality and long absences from home. Both had much to do with Anne Morrow Lindbergh's love affair with her doctor.

Some day, I hope that an ambitious television network such as HBO creates a mini-series based on this captivating biography. There is no way that a single movie can do justice to the expanse of dramatic events and stunning accomplishments that made up the life of America's greatest hero.

Here was a man. And here's a biography that does him proud.

Rating:
Summary: Renaissance Man, Renaissance Book
Review: This was, without question, one of the best, most skillfully written biographies I have ever read. I try to be tough with my five star ratings, but A. Scott Berg's bio of Charles Lindbergh was simply too great a book to rate any less than five stars. What an interesting man Charles Lindbergh was- and to think that had he not made his famous flight in May 1927 he probably would have ended up being a farmer!! Lindbergh had a natural curiousity about a great many things: aviation, democracy, politics, medicine, environmental causes, and much later in his life, religion. The one area where maybe he failed was being a dutiful husband and wife. A tough task-master to the end, he often pushed his wife and children to "be strong" in mind and not to show emotion. He was a lifelong traveller who was not around very often, building homes in remote areas on a whim only to move on to another destination upon completion while his family was left to pick up the pieces.

Aside from the major aspects of Lindbergh's life, I was disappointed with the treatment Lindbergh received from FDR during World War II as I have always admired FDR as a great, creative politician. While I don't necessarily agree with some of the things Lindbergh was quoted as saying through the America First movement, FDR was unable to separate Lindbergh the man from Lindbergh the political mind, ultimately leading to FDR's blackballing of Lindbergh's involvement during the war. It seems FDR realized that Lindbergh was literally his political rival as both were considered super-men by their adoring publics, so he attempted to squash Lindbergh when he was down. These kind of limits placed on any American citizen, political adversary or not, does not speak well of Mr. Roosevelt. I will say that Lindbergh made a mistake when he chose to send copies of his correspondence with Roosevelt to the press while the original letter to Roosevelt was still in the mail, which often led to newspapers printing Lindbergh's letters opposing FDR's political stances before Roosevelt even had time to read the original letter. Lindbergh should have known you don't undercut a politician when it comes to his public, especially because FDR valued his popularity with the public so much.

All in all, a great work on a great man. Lindbergh was not great from a domestic standpoint as he was not a good father or even a dedicated husband, but he was a man who explored and conquered a number of frontiers. It was only later in his life when he realized that aviation as he once knew it in the early 1920s was changing. The plane flies the man now, not the other way around, he once remarked in the 1950s. He was fascinated with the new aviation technology that came from the post-war boom and yet he loathed the capabilities of that very technology which had the potential to wipe out civilizations.

I can't say enough about the book or the man. At 562 pages, it might seem long but it is hard to put down. A great book that has my highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Poor abridgement hurts audio edition
Review: While by most accounts author Berg has penned an exhaustive biography of perhaps the 20th Century's greatest "lone wolf" hero, his efforts are largely undone by the strange, unbalanced hatchet job done on the abridged audio edition.

Whoever edited the original book to fit into four audiocassettes has apparently decided that the event that launched Lindberg into the world's first true media superstar, the amazing New York-Paris flight of 1927, is of less interest to readers than the after-effects of his celebrity and the ponderous details of his nomadic lifestyle. The entire Paris flight, from conception to completion, takes up less than a quarter of one cassette, perhaps 15 minutes total. None of the interesting details of the epic flight (for example, his borrowing of a compact mirror from a female spectator, or the harrowing takeoff in which Lindberg barely got the overloaded Spirit of St. Louis over a clump of trees) earns even a passing mention.

Meanwhile, the Lindberg kidnapping case is treated in exhaustive, down-to-the-minute detail. Also given extreme close-up attention are the Lindbergs' numerous perambulations in search of a home, down to the price paid for each of what seems like a dozen parcels of property and the construction details of each A-frame cottage.

While we're focusing on these trivialities, huge and important swatches of Lindberg's life are entirely ignored. No mention whatsover of Lindberg's important contributions to Dr. Robert Goddard's rocket research in the mid-1930s, or his active support of the space program in the 1960s. His valuable research into the artificial heart is mentioned only in passing at the outset of his interest, and is never followed up.

Eric Stoltz' bland narration doesn't help matters much. At the conclusion, I felt no closer to discovering the true man beneath the hero than I had at the beginning.

Rating:
Summary: A hero on the line between love and hate
Review: A. Scott Berg has written a sympathetic biography of one of the greatest heroes in American history. In this abridged version, the reader gets the highlights of a long and controversial career. Most attention is given, of course, to Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris and the kidnapping and death of his first son, Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.

Berg gives a picture of a man who was himself awed by the adulation of a nation -- of a world -- that praised his heroic flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Such an undertaking took great planning and attention to detail. Lindbergh needed to control his environment and events that surrounded him. The same need was evident when his son was kidnapped and, apparently, killed in an accidental fall. Throughout the investigation and subsequent arrest and trial of Hauptmann, he insisted on being present and making important decisions.

Such control did not work well in his marriage, however. At first, Anne Morrow Lindburgh enjoyed the strength of this tall, lanky heroic figure. However, given her own creative nature and the desire of most people to have some say in their lives, she eventually asserted herself, even to the point of having a love affair with another man. She supported her husband during the worst part of his life when his admiration for Nazi Germany, and his believe that America should stay out of the war, caused many Americans to despise him. She suffered through the hate mail and phone calls that swamped their home and their lives. Once World War II began, much of the vituperation abated as he found ways in which to serve his country both honorably and courageously. In the end, she was at her husband's side.

Critiquing an abridgement is often difficult, because it includes the work of the author and the editing required to shorten the work. Then there is the narrator, whose voice, inflection, and emphasis can make a different. In an abridgement, one has to wonder if anything really important was left out. For anyone looking for the basic facts of this multi-faceted subject, this audio does very well. Eric Stoltz, the narrator did a creditable job. (The only criticism might be of his use of a German accent when reading the contents of the ransom notes.)

This is a book for anyone interested in the history of this country from the early 20th century into the 60s, and anyone who loves American biography. Those interested in General Schwarzkopf, late of the U.S. Army, might also find this of interest, as I believe his father's role in the Lindbergh kidnapping is covered here.

Rating:
Summary: Weird man, great book
Review: Berg has done a wonderful job on a very paradoxical subject.

After reading this book, I remembered what someone said about Frank Sinatra after he passed away. The remark was, "He was not cheated in life, he lived enough life for several people." Although you would never mistake Frank Sinatra for Charles Lindbergh, there are many similarities to their lives if you think about it.

That said, Charles Lindbergh was a major figure in the 20th century. His flight and his efforts afterwards in promoting aviation were huge parts of how the world developed. The kidnapping of his son and the trial of the kidnapper were huge events, showing how celebrity would be in the 20th century. Then his controversial efforts on America First made him a pariah to many. Finally, he became a leading conservationist.

That could be enough for 4 or 5 lives, Charles Lindbergh lived them all. And the reader will soon see that he was a successful eccentric.

Berg does a wonderful job in going through all this in his book. He had unparalleled access to the papers of Lindbergh and his family.

There are so many contradictions to Lindbergh, if he was such a private man why did he court publicity in so many ways? Was he an anti-semite, he said he wasn't, but he is contradicted by his writings and speeches. Berg notes that Lindbergh edited a lot of the bigotry out of his papers, but never denied that he believed that he saw the US as a Christian nation.

This is not an idol-worshipping book. Berg is critical of Lindbergh is many ways, he is also quite critical of Anne Morrow as well.

When writing about such a controversial figure, some writers would choose to psychoanalyze the subject and state why the subject acted the way he did. Berg chose not to, he prefers to state the facts and let the reader do the analysis on their own.

Rating:
Summary: Life with Lindy
Review: I waited in anticipation as the twenty-first of May approached this year. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh touched down in Paris, completing the first solo non-stop crossing of the Atlantic. This was the seventy-fifth anniversary of the greatest flight ever made. A replica of the Spirit of St. Louis was to retrace to route Lindbergh took over the ocean. Lindbergh's grandson was to attempt the crossing himself, albeit in a modern light aircraft with the aid of GPS navigation. I thought these recreations would attract significant media coverage. I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a ten-second blurb on the local news showing the Ryan replica aircraft taking off, along with a few scant newspaper articles remembering the event. Disappointment followed until I read this book.

The flight itself occurred early in Lindbergh's life; he was only twenty-five when he completed it. The event made him an international hero literally overnight. Lindbergh received notes of congratulations, invitations and gifts from nearly every nation on earth. For most men, this would truly be a life's accomplishment, something to hang one's laurels on forever. This was not the case for Lindbergh. He refused to let his life be defined by one great feat. Despite his lack of formal education (he dropped out of college), Lindbergh pursued various academic opportunities. Most notably, he worked with Nobel laureate Dr. Alexis Carrel to develop a perfusion pump.

Lindbergh's status made him a target and he soon felt the negative effects. Without a doubt, the most tragic event that he and his wife, Anne Morrow, faced was the kidnapping of their first child. Mr. Berg examines the events, evidence and persons involved with a skeptical eye. Like every other aspect of Lindbergh's life, the popular notions regarding the crime are a muddled mix of fact and innuendo. Mr. Berg brings each individual fact to light and writes in a style comparable to a crime reporter. The chapters on the crime and trial are electric, making the book nearly impossible to put down. Forget the absurd O.J. fiasco, this was the "crime of the century".

For various reasons, Lindbergh went from being a beloved hero to a despised pariah in the public eye. He accepted several invitations to Nazi Germany before the start of the war. The trips were made with Anne and with full support of the state department to ascertain the strength of German air defenses. (Lindbergh was given extraordinary access to German air bases and factories.) Lindbergh maintained that he was "far from being in accord with the philosophy, policy, and actions of the Nazi government". He felt that Germany would provide a bulwark against the growing threat of the Soviet Union. When Lindbergh went public with his isolationist views, many felt he had become a Nazi sympathizer, which couldn't be further from the truth. He eventually fell out of favor with FDR. When he attempted to reinstate his commission with the air corps after war broke out, he was denied. This didn't stop Lindbergh from flying fifty combat missions as a "technician" for various army and navy squadrons.

Charles Lindbergh was a complex, multi-talented man. What comes to mind when asked who Lindbergh was? Most would simply reply with the word, "pilot". After reading this magnificent book you'll be able to answer with at least a dozen more.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time reading these reviews; read the book.
Review: I will simply add my accolades to the others who found this biography fascinating and worthwhile. C.A.L was my father's hero, and I never really understood why unitl I read Berg's book which enabled me to capture the times in which my father lived. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: An American Patriot
Review: Virtually everyone in America is aware of Charles Lindbergh's record-breaking solo flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis and the kidnapping of his first-born child, which came to be known as the "Crime of the Century." Those two events alone justify the writing and reading of his biography. But, as I learned in Berg's incredibly well-documented and well-written book, there is so much more to the story and the man.

I was reminded as I read the book of the cheesy sci-fi TV show from the 1960s called "The Time Tunnel." Its premise was that scientists had created a time machine into which two heroes climbed each week, invariably arriving against all odds smack dab in the middle of some historically important time and place. This was the story of Lindbergh's life. He was there to assist Goddard in rocket science. He was there when Leaky was about to rock the world of anthropology. He was there to witness the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was there to help General MacArthur retake the Philippines. He was there as a 40-year-old civilian to fly multiple combat missions in the South Pacific, including shooting down a Japanese Zero. The list goes on and on. The scope of Lindbergh's travels and accomplishments is simply astounding.

Berg also does a masterful job of presenting the facts behind Lindbergh's controversial side, the charge by some that he was a Nazi sympathizer and/or anti-Semite. While he was as human as the rest of us and may have had some prejudices, his stand against American intervention in World War II was deeply rooted in his fear that war with Germany would weaken the West and allow the real evil--the Communists in Soviet Russia--to prevail. When his isolationism cause failed and the fighting began, no man tried harder to participate and serve his country than Charles Lindbergh.

Lindbergh epitomizes the American hero: the quiet, unassuming farm boy who shocks the world with his risky, Spartan transatlantic flight; who handles the ensuing, unprecedented media storm with grace; who leads a life of virtue and clean living, devoted to the advancement of science, country, and mankind; who stands up for what he feels is right, speaking it eloquently and never wavering; who ultimately achieves the rank of General and wins the Pulitzer Prize and Medal of Honor. Berg reveals the man as clearly as can be done, warts and all. This is great literature. --Christopher B. Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book about my favorite man
Review: This book describes the life of my hero and role model, Charles Augustus Lindbergh. From his family's origins, to his childhood, to his flight, to his son's murder, to the absurd criticism he got for his sometimes racist but usually not-all-that-disagreeable America First speeches, to his patriotic but illegal combat in World War II, to his concern for the environment.

The fact that he had done something not considered humanly possible, coupled with the fact that he was good-looking, made him a celebrity. He had nothing but contempt for his fame, and instead of exploiting it he used his influence for good causes and issues he believed in.

Aviation, up until his flight, was considered mostly entertainment. Lindbergh made aviation what it is today, not just by his flight but also by his diplomatic trips, analyzing Europe's technology and comparing it with that of the United States. His interest in German technology probably contributed to that country's downfall, since he helped the U.S. army modernize its Air Force as Germany did. To the reviewer who has the book on tape: I don't know about the tape, but the book says a lot more than you give it credit for. And as for the remark that he didn't know much about foriegn policy, I think he knew a hell of a lot more about foreign policy than FDR did. He'd traveled to Europe and observed the different countries there. The book explains how he lost respect for Germany after Kristallnacht (The night of the broken glass) but thought that it would be best to let the Nazis and the Communists destroy each other.

His World War II record was amazing. It takes a lot of patriotism to unofficially and illegally fight a war that you oppose, because the president won't let you in the army. Did the tape leave that part out? Did it leave out the part where he wrote about brutality in the war, on both sides? I don't think a Nazi sympathizer would support the Nuremburg trials like he did. And I won't even go into his honorable activism in the later part of his life.

He was a brilliant scientist, thoughtful writer, brave adventurer, caring person, and overall just a great guy. True, he did make a few conflicting and questionable statements, and his failure to stand up to the extremist wing of America First led to the movement's downfall and his public scrutiny. But that is nothing compared to all the great things he did. He wasn't perfect, but who is? Read the book.

Rating:
Summary: What a fascinating man was Lindbergh....
Review: I don't generally read biographies. I don't have too many of them on my shelves, and usually they don't catch my eye when I go to the local Barnes & Noble. But for some reason, A. Scott Berg's biography of Charles Lindbergh jumped out at me when I saw it a few months ago. Maybe it was the little blurb on the cover that this book had won the Pulitzer. Maybe it was the additional blurb that this was a New York Times bestseller. I don't know what it was, but I bought the book.

Turns out it was the best thing I ever did.

Of course I knew about the main points of Lindbergh's life - the first man to fly from New York to Paris, and the awful episode of "the Lindbergh baby" kidnapping and murder. I also had some knowledge of Lindbergh's later reputation - he was seen by some as a Nazi sympathizer, or worse.

Berg gives the facts behind these points, and also behind the rest of Lindbergh's life. He does so with an incredible style and in great detail - but not so much detail as to bog down the reader and prevent him or her from finding out about the fascinating man that Charles Lindbergh was. And he was fascinating - there's no other word for it.

The only other phrase that comes to mind to describe Lindbergh is "a mass of contradictions". Berg describes all of those contradictions without detracting from his life in any way. The most important contradiction(s) in this story is Lindbergh's feelings toward his wife.

I could go on and on about this book and the way Berg wrote it. The best recommendation I can give you is that I urge you to pick it up and read it yourself.