Atlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic

by Joe Jackson

A fast-paced, dynamic account of the race to cross the Atlantic, and the larger-than-life personalities of the aviators who captured the world's attentionIn 1919, a prize of $25,000 was offered to the first aviator to cross the Atlantic in either direction between France and America. Although it was one of the most coveted prizes in the world, it sat unclaimed (not without efforts) for eight long years, until the spring of 1927. It was then, during five incredibly tense weeks, that one of those magical windows in history opened, when there occurred a nexus of technology, innovation, character, and spirit that led so many contenders (from different parts of the world) to all suddenly be on the cusp of the exact same achievement at the exact same time. Atlantic Fever is about the race; it is a milestone in American history whose story has never been fully told. Richard Byrd, Noel Davis, Stanton Wooster, Clarence Chamberlin, Charles Levine, René Fonck, Charles Nungesser, and François Coli—all had equal weight in the race with Charles Lindbergh. Although the story starts in September 1926 with the crash of the first competitor, or even further back with the 1919 establishment of the prize, its heart is found in a short period, those five weeks from April 14 to May 21, 1927, when the world held its breath and the aviators met their separate fates in the air. Illustrated with photos.

Genres: History, Aviation, Nonfiction, American History, Biography, World History

544 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Joe Jackson is the author of seven works of nonfiction and a novel. His nonfiction includes: Leavenworth Train, a finalist for the 2002 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime; Dead Run: The Shocking Story of Dennis Stockton and Life on Death Row in America, with co-author William F. Burke and an introduction by William Styron; A Furnace Afloat: The Wreck of the Hornet and the Harrowing 4,300-mile of its Survivors; A World on Fire: A Heretic, an Aristocrat, and the Race to Discover Oxygen; The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire, one of Time magazine's Top Ten Books of 2008; and Atlantic Fever: Lindbergh, His Competitors, and the Race to Cross the Atlantic, released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in May 2012. A first novel, How I Left the Great State of Tennessee and Went on to Better Things, was released in March 2004.

His seventh work of nonfiction - Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary - was released by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in October 2016; it chronicles the life of Oglala Lakota holy man Black Elk, best known for his 1932 Black Elk Speaks, written in collaboration with the Nebraska poet-laureate John Neihardt. Jackson's biography received the following honors and awards in 2017: Winner of the PEN/​Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography; Best Biography of 2016, True West magazine; Winner of the Western Writers of America 2017 Spur Award, Best Western Biography; Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography; and One of the Best Books of 2016, The Boston Globe.

Reviews

[Ted Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read several books about Lindbergh's flight to Paris in 1917 I thought I knew what happened.

Jackson sheds light on so much more than Lindbergh's successful flight. He recounts the complete story of the race to win the Orteig Prize; the failures, the deaths, the successes following Lindbergh's and the impact on those who succeeded and those who failed, but survived.

A must read for those who want to know the whole story of the race to win the Orteig Prize and the aviation hysteria that followed.

[Barbara Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jackson has done an incredible job putting together historic facts and anecdotal narratives to engage the reader. A great read!

[Craig Padover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. A page turner, it kept my interest throughout.

[Christine Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has taken me months. It was 400 pages, but I still should have been able to get through it faster. This may give you the idea that I didn't like it, but strangely, I did like it! It was a book I would leave untouched for a while, but then as soon as I started reading again, I forgot how good it was! Weird.

I gave this book to my husband who loves aviation. He enjoyed it, but also found it hard to stick with.

You might think there was too much "airplane" detail in it, but I didn't think so. It was more about the PEOPLE involved in this race to Paris. And our American & European "culture" post WWI. Interesting.

[Gary Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The inside story about the Gods of aviation. The motivations of the individual competitors, their anxieties, their relationships with each other, and the consequences . . . it's all here meticulously researched.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

85 years ago this month Charles Lindbergh flew from NYC to Paris in his plane, "The Spirit of St. Louis". Joe Jackson's excellent book deals with the competition for the Ortega Prize and the "Atlantic Fever" that gripped America, Europe, and the rest of the world, in the months leading up to May 1927 and after.

This is a well written book that outlines how the world embraced the concept of aviation and those who flew. The men, and few women, involved with the pursuit of the Ortega Prize were an eclectic group of alpha individuals who were devoted to the science of flight. Many of them paid for their devotion with their lives.

If you have read Scott Berg's biography of Lindbergh or Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis", you will enjoy this new addition to the history of aviation. If you have not, do yourself a favor and read it. Read it and be amazed how, in some ways, little America has not changed at all in 85 years.

[Philip Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the schemers Jackson chronicles is Admiral Richard E. Byrd, whose machinations and manipulations on the stage of world-class feat-making would make him almost as legendary as Lindbergh. In the 1990s and early 2000s I published Jackson’s first three books, including the co-authored Dead Run, with an Introduction by William Styron. Jackson’s a very gifted writer of narrative nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews says of his latest: “With stirring detail and perceptive insight about the pilots and the public, Jackson recaptures the tone and tenor of a frantic era’s national obsession.”

[Jon C Manzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A splendid, detailed account of the many players who participated in this race, most of whom have passed into obscurity. Everybody remembers Lindbergh, and a few still remember Byrd, but the others (Fonck, Chamberlin, Acosta, Belchen, Levine, et al) were unknown to me, and their stories are all fascinating. Most enjoyable.

[Dave Hoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Jackson did a great job of describing flyers. He got Adm. Byrd's personality as I witnessed it on Operation Deep-Freeze One, 1955-56 When I exchanged e-mails with author Jackson, he steered me to books concerning Byrd's claims, which backed up my opinions.

[Al Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read - very enjoyable and extremely readable. Provides interesting insights into the fever to set new aviation records and advance the state of the industry. Great summer read - couldn't put it down.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous book with fascinating information about the construction of early airplanes, the financial backers of the fliers, the competitors with all of their quirks, and the history of flying. It kept my interest from the beginning to the end.

[Charles Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad portrayal of the dramatis personae involved in the Atlantic crossing. The crew infighting is particularly interesting.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read regarding the race to be first to cross the Atlantic non-stop by plane. High mortality rate. Interesting story. After Lindbergh several others in rapid order (not solo though).

[Michael Jolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great "rest of the story" book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of very interesting information. Quite a few mistakes in technical descriptions of aircraft components.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fever a prize does to those in Aviation this book was those who tried to win and what sad ending for those that participated

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nicely written. I'm getting really into books on exploration, this is great so far.