Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon

by Kathleen C. Winters

When Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific in 1937, she was at the height of her fame. Fascination with Earhart remains just as strong today, as her mysterious disappearance continues to inspire speculation. In this nuanced and often surprising biography, acclaimed aviation historian Kathleen C. Winters moves beyond the caricature of the spunky, precocious pilot to offer a more complex portrait. Drawing on a wealth of contemporary accounts, airline records, and other original research, this book reveals a flawed heroine who was frequently reckless and lacked basic navigation skills, but who was also a canny manipulator of mass media. Winters details how Earhart and her husband, publisher George Putnam, worked to establish her as an international icon, even as other spectacular pilots went unnoticed. Sympathetic yet unsentimental, this biography helps us to see Amelia Earhart with fresh eyes.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, American History, Womens

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2010

About the author

Pilot and author Kathleen C. Winters recounts Anne Morrow Lindbergh's adventurous life and flying career in her new biography, "Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air." The book received good national press, including a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. See Kathleen's web site, www.kathleenwinters.com, for more information. She lives near St. Paul, Minnesota. "

Reviews

[Lawrence Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

history lesson

[Emmalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells gives us a larger story on the woman who was lost at sea in 1937, and never found. It tells us about how her heritage and her childhood; playing outside most of her days with her friends and older sister. She didn´t want to be a pilot for a long time, until she rode a plane with her father, then everything changed. She got married, flew all around the world to different places, met many celebrities, and became one herself.

I liked how it told a lot more about her childhood and life, because I learned a lot more about her. Like how she was a nurse during war. I didn´t think there needed to be some things, and the book got a little bit boring at some times. Overall, this book was really interesting and hard to put down.

I would recommend this book to people who love history and the story of Amelia Earhart. I think people who love history would find this really interesting, because it takes place when women didn´t have a lot of rights as today. People who also want to learn more about Amelia Earhart (like me) would find this fascinating and would probably never stop reading it until the end. I really think this book is great for ages 13 and up.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I'd give it 3.5 stars? It can be a bit dry in parts but is a fascinating look at a complex person and an interesting snapshot of a bygone era when commercial aviation was coming into being. This book really pulls back the curtain and reveals a truth that I found very surprising: Earhart was not a very good pilot, but she did have the best public relations and a charming personality. While there were much more proficient female pilots at the time, they have largely been lost to history given the fame of Amelia and the mystery surroundnig her disappearance in the South Pacific. She was reckless, had numerous avoidable accidents, could not be bothered to learn morse code, and was terrible about performing maintenance on her planes or planning for contingencies. Her loss waas largely avoidable but the romance of her story has hidden this behind the myth she helped create. It was a cool story but some of the bits I found most interesting were the side characters that popped up, the Senator Gore from Tennessee (Al's father), Buzz Aldrin's dad who worked on Amelia's plane, and Eugene Vidal (Gore Vidal's father) who was an early pioneer in US commercial aviation.

[Barbara Smoyer Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first part of the book more than the middle, which is where I pooped out (on page 100). I found Amelia's origin story very interesting. I also enjoyed reading how she began her working life, and how she became interested in aviation. But I started to lose interest as she started making the different flights around the US. Maybe I'm more interested in family stories than in airplanes LOL.

[Kailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty interesting, but a bit of a slow read. I felt like I learned a lot more about Amelia Earhart than I did previously.

[Alaina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best written book. The author did a poor job guiding the reader through the chronology of Amelia's life. At one point she explained an event occurring on September 12 and then said "several weeks later on September 21" uh, that's 9 days lady. It lacked a narrative, and seemed to state the events of Amelia's life with little insight or story-telling skills to enhance the boring bits.

Before, I was always in awe of Earhart and the mystery of her last flight, but now, I find that I am apathetic. She drowned. In the Pacific. Build a bridge. Find another conspiracy. She didn't even know Morse code, people!

The below quote basically sums up my lack of serious respect for Earhart as a pilot, and why I no longer wonder how she met her demise:

"She [Amelia] was not a methodical planner who gave attention to all possible outcomes, a talent inherent in the best long-distance flyers. She skimped on her radio navigation preparations--not learning the radio equipment nor comprehending its importance in locating Howland Island on her last flight... Time was her nemesis. Amelia failed to carve out enough time to focus and concentrate on the task at hand. Bravery and determination cannot replace the many hours of advance work needed to successfully accomplish a transoceanic crossing. The vast Pacific Ocean makes no allowances for navigation errors." (214)

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author is an aviator, and she provides excellent insight into facts other authors rarely explain -- like Amelia's speed and altitude on various flights. The best book for getting a sense of what Amelia's flying skills were really like. Many other pilots clearly felt Earhart lacked sufficient hours and training to cope with complicated aviation. But this is also the book's greatest weakness. Winters seems personally resentful -- even angry -- about all the acclaim and celebrity Earhart got. She makes several snarky remarks about taxpayer money going to fund runways and so on for Earhart. Despite a tossed-in remark at the end, grudgingly admitting that Earhart had charisma and courage, you walk away with a feeling that Winters bears a strong personal grudge against Earhart. That's understandable, and you can see why other female pilots would feel the same way, but for a biography it makes Winter's book unbalanced. I wouldn't recommend this as a first book about Earhart, but I would recommend it for someone wanting to get more details and a more aviator's-approach take.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winters, an aviation historian and licensed pilot, provides a very well written and detailed account of Earhart's life. Her delivervy is clear and even, with no attempt to provide an over-heroic view of the famous woman but instead share the facts of her difficult family life and criticisms of her lack of flight skill/hours. Some accounts of Earhart's marriage blame her husband George for the rushed final flight---however, using first hand sources, Winters discounts this idea. While I've not read a lot of bios of Earhart, I found this one remarkable and recommend to those interested in both early aviators and the woman herself.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and quick read that does not buy into any of the wild ideas about Amelia Earhart's disappearance. Kathleen Winters, herself pilot and aviation historian wrote knowledgeably about the era, placing Amelia's accomplishments alongside the accomplishments of other pilots of that time. Unfortunately, the author died in August 2010 so I cannot look forward to further volumes from her and will have to look up Anne Morrow Lindbergh: First Lady of the Air.

[Leslie Soifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book about Amelia Earhart. I felt that I got a realistic picture about her; family upbringing, schooling, work, views, aviation history, dreams and aspirations. I felt the author "painted" such a good picture of her that I knew her well and would have like to have known her in another lifetime. I feel the author described her good and not so good aviation abilities. I would have liked to know more about how her "death" affected her family and husband. The author described that Amelia Earhart probably knew what the risks were but made the flight anyway for woman's benefits in the field of aviation.

[Ali Freedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because I don't know much about Amelia Earhart and I was interested in learning about her disappareance. I was surprised to find that her notoriety was mainly because her husband, publisher George Putnam, promoted the media frenzy that surrounded her. It was not her aviation talent that made her a celebrity. In fact, when she set a world record of being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic ocean - she traveled with 2 male pilots and she never even touched the flight controls!

[Leslie Zampetti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Winters' biography of Amelia Earhart is well-researched and tries to provide a more balanced view of Earhart and her accomplishments than has often been given. However, she does belabor her points in places and while readable, frankly, Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming is far more entertaining and intriguing (it's written for children). That said, Winters' primary focus is Earhart's life and her piloting skills, not her disappearance.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable, liked the pace. Didn't know much about Earhart prior to picking up this book and was surprised to learn that she was far from the best pilot (male or female) of the era and had originally achieved fame for simply being a passenger on a transatlantic flight.

[Lief · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice light read and summary of the life of Amelia Earhart. Portrays Amelia's expertise in the public realm and balances that with her struggles as a pilot - a part of her I never knew about. Found this book perfect to read after looking at a replica of her Lockheed Electra at the Boeing Air Museum.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to read all the names, dates and addresses although I was interested in the real story of Amelia Earhart. Interesting to know that she crashed more planes than vehicles I have owned. In actuality, her husband was a great marketing and PR person.

[Kelly Krabappel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! First book I've personally read about Amelia Earhart that paints her as a human being and not a infallible idol.

Well written. Couldn't put it down.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome!

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish. moved too slowly. Didn't hold my interest.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, when I started reading this book, I knew next to nothing about Amelia Earhart, beyond her reputation, her demise, and how she was portrayed in popular culture (such as Night at the Museum 2 and the Thrilling Adventure Hour). So this book was educational in that regard. I was surprised to learn that while she might have been fearless she was hardly peerless.

All in all an interesting read, not dry but not overly dramatized.