Ohio: Home of the Wright Brothers, Birthplace of Aviation

by Louis Chmiel

“This meticulously researched book not only tells the story of the Wright Brothers, but also the history of their family, beginning with the first ancestors to settle in the Ohio territory in the 1780s. Like many of their fellow settlers, the Wright ancestors exhibited grit, determination, and ingenuity. Chmiel’s book shows how the history of a state, a city, and a family helped shape the inventors of the airplane.” - Ohioana Quarterly ----------- “Louis Chmiel has created a monument of a book. The painstaking historical detective work of Home of the Wright Brothers brings to life the deep historical context of the brothers’ achievements and thereby vastly enriches our understanding not just of the brothers and their extraordinary extended family, but of an entire era in American history. This is a treasure chest for historians of the Midwest, of Ohio, of Aviation, and of the American family.” - James Tobin, Author of To Conquer the The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight, Associate professor of journalism, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio ---------- “This inspiring book by Louis Chmiel is not only a book about aviation and the Wright brothers, it is a story about a family, from the Revolutionary War into the 1900s. It is not just a book of historical facts, but a well-written and easy-to-follow story, complete with documentation and photographs, illustrations, letters and diary excerpts. This book is well worth the read”. - Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly ---------- “The qualities of courage, independence of mind, persistence in the face of discouragement, and self-confidence, which had enabled earlier generations of the Wright family to survive and prosper on the Ohio frontier were the very characteristics that made it possible for Wilbur and Orville Wright to pioneer a new frontier in the sky.” - Tom Crouch, Author of The Bishop’s Boys, Senior Curator of Aeronautics, Smithsonian Institute

790 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2013