Lindbergh

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Biography of the Whole Man
Review: Charles Lindbergh went from obscurity to immortality within the space of several days. His name ranks alongside Columbus and Neil Armstrong to name but two. Yet, his famous flight was but a small part of a fascinating life, whose climax was realized in the early chapters. For the rest of his life, Lindbergh seemed to be searching for his own depth of meaning.

Mr. Berg provides a deft portrait of the man, his virtues and vices, his strengths and shortcomings, in an engaging prose that reads like a finely crafted novel.

I read (and still re-read portions of) Lindbergh's own "Spirit of St. Louis" which is a marvelous book in its own right. As a biography, Mr. Berg's book, fleshes out Lindbergh's life, especially his later years, with remarkable insight and clarity. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: "Lindbergh" by A. Scott Berg
Review: I have less than twenty pages left of this superb biography, and I want to share with prosepctive readers why they should buy this book: exquisite writing, meticulous research, and a subject matter that is larger than life.

Charles Lindbergh was the first recipient of 20th century celebrity cult status; an unassuming man, shy and modest he had a dream of flying solo, non-stop to Paris,and a cash parize of $25,000.00. The prize money was not the main incentive for the run. Here was a man with a dream, fueled by the desire to explore. Blessed with movie star good looks, his landing on May 22, 1927, in Paris, began a mass media hysteria. In the aftermath, he,and later his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, were desparate to lead lives of intellectual creativity. The fact that the flight that allowed them access to pursue their interests also wreaked havoc on their family life(e.g. the kidnapping and death of their firstborn son) is a sad and bitter irony.

Berg's deft and subtle hand, his superb sense of time and place, are almost novellic; but firmly grounded in careful scholarship. He reveals Lindbergh to be a man of great abilities, imagination, and perserverance; but also a man who ruled his family with such authorative zeal, that they each suffered under the strain; a man who was jusitfably proud of his wife's literary ability, but yet who never really allowed her the freedom to truly develop her literary voice; and a political neophyte, whose ambitions to keep America out of World War II,caused him to be branded a traitor, an anti-semitic,and worse.

This book will remain one of the pillars of modern biography, ranking alongside of such classics, as Robert K. Massie's 1967 dual biography of "Nicholas and Alexandra."

Sadly - quallity writing, like Berg's, are not always seen; so do yourself a favor, buy the book, put on a pot of coffee, and enter the life of America's "Lone Eagle", Charles Augustus Lindbergh. You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Unsure
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, it provides a very thorough and detailed account of Lindbergh's life, and is in no way boring like some biographies. However, I am not sure whether to trust this author's objectivity. Berg drew heavily from the Lindbergh family itself for his sources, and although a viable source, he relied to heavily on it. This gives the book the tendency to be slightly and in some case grossly biased towards its view of Lindbergh's actions. Although his exploits in flying were in every way brave, his actions and words regarding American involvement in the 2nd World War and his view of Nazi Germany reflect very porrly on his judgment. He also seemed somewhat indifferent to attrocities committed by the Axis nations. Read the book, but keep an open mind to the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Straightforward Account of a Compelling Life
Review: It is not just Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic in The Spirit of St Louis, or the infamous kidnapping/murder of his first child, or his frontline position as a crusader for the isolationists before WW2 that makes this book so fascinating to read; it is also the details of his life that one rarely thinks about: his work on an artificial heart pump, his environmental work, his interest in the world's tribes and their way of life. Lindbergh's range of interests and his energy in pursuing them drive this biography.

This book seems as if it was written using the "point the camera and shoot" philosophy. Berg does a creditable job laying out Lindbergh's life, but there's nothing flashy about his book. The prose is solid and workmanlike. Tangents into other issues of Lindbergh's times are kept to a minimum. Berg sometimes gets bogged down in less interesting areas of Lindbergh's life such as mundane family matters, but he maintains enough momentum to push through without too much damage to the narrative.

Lindbergh, however, doesn't need a brilliant biographer; he brought enough energy to his life and fulfilled enough of his great ambitions to capture any reader's interest. This is a very good book and worthy of much of the praise it has received here, but that has more to do with the subject of the book than with its author.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful look into a great but deeply flawed man
Review: Just reading the other reviews of Lindbergh gives a bit of insight into the incredible controversy that followed him throughout his life--something that Berg does a masterful job of examining. This is an outstanding book that nearly brought me to tears during the narrative of his historic flight but that also left me bewildered at times by Lindbergh's amazing naivete and ignorance. Clearly there will be people who can't get past the myth of his anti-semitism (Did he totally fooled his close friend Henry Guggenheim for his entire adult life), or the need to create a conspiracy around the kidnap and murder of his first child (should we be amazed that his other 5 children survived into adulthood with nary a tale of abuse?). This is an outstanding profile of a man who was as great as he was flawed and human and Berg tells the story well.

Rating:
Summary: a worthwhile read
Review: This is no easy book to get through. Mr. Berg has done his homework and then some and the amount of detail he gives his readers is prodigious. However, the effort is well worth it as you end up with a very accurate picture of Mr. Lindbergh, warts and all. As a courageous aviator, he had no equal, but in his personal life, the flaws were extraordinary. This does not detract from the man but rather explains a lot of his drive, his restlessness, his perfectionism and his ultimate failure to get what he probably most wanted in life... approval from his dad. Many of Lindbergh's later views in life no doubt came directly from the mouth of his equally flawed father. This is something we all share and deal with in different ways. Lindbergh's way was not my way but it was HIS way and I was grateful for the opportunity to read such in depth analysis. I recommend this book highly and without reservation.