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The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh
WINNER OF THE 2021 YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS! SIX STARRED REVIEWS!Discover the dark side of Charles Lindbergh--one of America's most celebrated heroes and complicated men--in this riveting biography from the acclaimed author of The Family Romanov.First human to cross the Atlantic via airplane; one of the first American media sensations; Nazi sympathizer and anti-Semite; loner whose baby was kidnapped and murdered; champion of Eugenics, the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding; tireless environmentalist. Charles Lindbergh was all of the above and more. Here is a rich, multi-faceted, utterly spellbinding biography about an American hero who was also a deeply flawed man. In this time where values Lindbergh held, like white Nationalism and America First, are once again on the rise, The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh is essential reading for teens and history fanatics alike.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 11, 2020
143 people are currently reading
1550 people want to read
About the author
Candace Fleming
66 books634 followersI have always been a storyteller. Even before I could write my name, I could tell a good tale. And I told them all the time. As a preschooler, I told my neighbors all about my three-legged cat named Spot. In kindergarten, I told my classmates about the ghost that lived in my attic. And in first grade I told my teacher, Miss Harbart, all about my family's trip to Paris, France.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
I told such a good story that people always thought I was telling the truth. But I wasn't. I didn't have a three-legged cat or a ghost in my attic, and I'd certainly never been to Paris, France. I simply enjoyed telling a good story... and seeing my listener's reaction.
Sure, some people might have said I was a seven-year old fibber. But not my parents. Instead of calling my stories "fibs" they called them "imaginative." They encouraged me to put my stories down on paper. I did. And amazingly, once I began writing, I couldn't stop. I filled notebook after notebook with stories, poems, plays. I still have many of those notebooks. They're precious to me because they are a record of my writing life from elementary school on.
In second grade, I discovered a passion for language. I can still remember the day my teacher, Miss Johnson, held up a horn-shaped basket filled with papier-mache pumpkins and asked the class to repeat the word "cornucopia." I said it again and again, tasted the word on my lips. I tested it on my ears. That afternoon, I skipped all the way home from school chanting, "Cornucopia! Cornucopia!" From then on, I really began listening to words—to the sounds they made, and the way they were used, and how they made me feel. I longed to put them together in ways that were beautiful, and yet told a story.
As I grew, I continued to write stories. But I never really thought of becoming an author. Instead, I went to college where I discovered yet another passion—history. I didn't realize it then, but studying history is really just an extension of my love of stories. After all, some of the best stories are true ones — tales of heroism and villainy made more incredible by the fact they really happened.
After graduation, I got married and had children. I read to them a lot, and that's when I discovered the joy and music of children's books. I simply couldn't get enough of them. With my two sons in tow, I made endless trips to the library. I read stacks of books. I found myself begging, "Just one more, pleeeeease!" while my boys begged for lights-out and sleep. Then it struck me. Why not write children's books? It seemed the perfect way to combine all the things I loved: stories, musical language, history, and reading. I couldn't wait to get started.
But writing children's books is harder than it looks. For three years I wrote story after story. I sent them to publisher after publisher. And I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Still, I didn't give up. I kept trying until finally one of my stories was pulled from the slush pile and turned into a book. My career as a children's author had begun.
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September 4, 2020
(This review is going to be too long but there is so much in the book that we don't know that it is necessary to at least touch on the major points of a very unlikeable man).
We know about the important events in the life of Charles Lindbergh;(1) the "Lone Eagle" flying alone from the United States to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis to become a world wide hero (that word is so overused);(2) the horrid kidnapping and murder of his first born child and the trial that followed; and (3) his isolationism in WWII. But do we know the man? I was frankly shocked to read about him in this excellent biography
He was an odd child who disliked and was disliked by other children and had only one friend, his mother. He was a dreamer who flunked out of college and became obsessed with flight which was still in its infancy.
After his fame of the trans-Atlantic flight, he found a rather strange friend, Dr. Alex Carrel, a geneticist who was experimenting with keeping animal organs alive outside of the body with the goal of immortality for man. Lindbergh became involved in the Doctor's work even though he had no scientific knowledge. The down side of this friendship was the fact that Carrel's beliefs in "Aryan supremacy" mirrored those of Adolf Hitler and Lindbergh became a believer.
He married Anne Morrow, the daughter of one of the richest families in the country......she wanted the fame and he needed the money to buy the type of airplanes he wanted. He totally controlled her and demanded that she learn to fly which she did. When their baby was kidnapped and murdered, he never shed a tear and told Anne, when he found her crying to stop and get on with her life. He was often gone from home for months at a time on flights all over the world, sometimes with Anne but mostly by himself. He was cold and treated his wife and their subsequent children with little feeling or concern. He had one love in life.....flying and just didn't have room for anything else.
Then he visited Nazi Germany and was enthralled by their supposed air power although what he saw and the reality of it were orchestrated by Nazis. He sent a message back to the US that Germany could take over all of Europe and that the United States was very far behind in technology. He hated Russian as he considered them an "inferior" race.
As war loomed, Lindbergh joined the America First movement which was similar to the American Nazi Party and gave speeches that bordered on treason. FDR hated him at this point and removed him from the military and took away honors that he had previously been awarded. Lindbergh went from a hero to a traitor as the public turned against him.
I will leave it there but have tried to highlight his rise and fall and why. The author's research is impeccable, some of which came from the diaries of Anne Lindbergh. And there is one huge secret about Lindbergh's life that was never known by his family for decades which will surprise you.
Highly recommended,
We know about the important events in the life of Charles Lindbergh;(1) the "Lone Eagle" flying alone from the United States to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis to become a world wide hero (that word is so overused);(2) the horrid kidnapping and murder of his first born child and the trial that followed; and (3) his isolationism in WWII. But do we know the man? I was frankly shocked to read about him in this excellent biography
He was an odd child who disliked and was disliked by other children and had only one friend, his mother. He was a dreamer who flunked out of college and became obsessed with flight which was still in its infancy.
After his fame of the trans-Atlantic flight, he found a rather strange friend, Dr. Alex Carrel, a geneticist who was experimenting with keeping animal organs alive outside of the body with the goal of immortality for man. Lindbergh became involved in the Doctor's work even though he had no scientific knowledge. The down side of this friendship was the fact that Carrel's beliefs in "Aryan supremacy" mirrored those of Adolf Hitler and Lindbergh became a believer.
He married Anne Morrow, the daughter of one of the richest families in the country......she wanted the fame and he needed the money to buy the type of airplanes he wanted. He totally controlled her and demanded that she learn to fly which she did. When their baby was kidnapped and murdered, he never shed a tear and told Anne, when he found her crying to stop and get on with her life. He was often gone from home for months at a time on flights all over the world, sometimes with Anne but mostly by himself. He was cold and treated his wife and their subsequent children with little feeling or concern. He had one love in life.....flying and just didn't have room for anything else.
Then he visited Nazi Germany and was enthralled by their supposed air power although what he saw and the reality of it were orchestrated by Nazis. He sent a message back to the US that Germany could take over all of Europe and that the United States was very far behind in technology. He hated Russian as he considered them an "inferior" race.
As war loomed, Lindbergh joined the America First movement which was similar to the American Nazi Party and gave speeches that bordered on treason. FDR hated him at this point and removed him from the military and took away honors that he had previously been awarded. Lindbergh went from a hero to a traitor as the public turned against him.
I will leave it there but have tried to highlight his rise and fall and why. The author's research is impeccable, some of which came from the diaries of Anne Lindbergh. And there is one huge secret about Lindbergh's life that was never known by his family for decades which will surprise you.
Highly recommended,
August 5, 2020
Newspapers struggled to articulate Lindbergh's momentous achievement. The New York Evening World called it "the greatest feat of solitary man in the records of the human race" . . . They gave him another nickname, too - the 'Lone Eagle' . . . [his] feat had become a matter of civic pride. -- on page 95
For students of early 20th century American history, aviator Charles Lindbergh is both arguably and chiefly remembered for two notable but very different events in his life - 1.) for piloting the very first solo transatlantic flight, from New York City to Paris, in his 'Spirit of St. Louis' monoplane and 2.) the kidnapping (and murder) of his infant son Charles Jr. five years later, which was tagged as "the crime of the century." However, the man lived for 70+ years, so there has to be a little more to him, right?
Fleming's The Rise and Fall of . . . is a very contemporarily-styled biography of the man, which peels back the layers of onion to expose at lot of the questionable or just plain bad parts of his character. While he certainly was a decorated and respected pilot, he was ALSO a believer in eugenics, a supporter of a scientist who performed some dubious experiments on animals, an early admirer of the Nazi Party and anti-Semitic fervor, and - rather late in his life - fathered seven children out of wedlock with two different mistresses during his many 'business' trips to Europe. I should mention that he was still married to his first (and only) wife at the time, who had bore him six kids in America.
Yowza! To paraphrase a movie critic I admire, I'll put it this way - with one hand I'm typing the review for this book, and with the other I'm using my thumb and forefinger to hold my nose. While it was well-written and kept me interested, the subject's conduct and beliefs were often regrettable.
For students of early 20th century American history, aviator Charles Lindbergh is both arguably and chiefly remembered for two notable but very different events in his life - 1.) for piloting the very first solo transatlantic flight, from New York City to Paris, in his 'Spirit of St. Louis' monoplane and 2.) the kidnapping (and murder) of his infant son Charles Jr. five years later, which was tagged as "the crime of the century." However, the man lived for 70+ years, so there has to be a little more to him, right?
Fleming's The Rise and Fall of . . . is a very contemporarily-styled biography of the man, which peels back the layers of onion to expose at lot of the questionable or just plain bad parts of his character. While he certainly was a decorated and respected pilot, he was ALSO a believer in eugenics, a supporter of a scientist who performed some dubious experiments on animals, an early admirer of the Nazi Party and anti-Semitic fervor, and - rather late in his life - fathered seven children out of wedlock with two different mistresses during his many 'business' trips to Europe. I should mention that he was still married to his first (and only) wife at the time, who had bore him six kids in America.
Yowza! To paraphrase a movie critic I admire, I'll put it this way - with one hand I'm typing the review for this book, and with the other I'm using my thumb and forefinger to hold my nose. While it was well-written and kept me interested, the subject's conduct and beliefs were often regrettable.
December 14, 2021
This is an absolutely fantastic book about an American hero. It gives the highs and lows of his life.
We know about the highs from newspaper articles and movies. However, the darker side to Lindburg is also exposed here in a gentle way. In short, he was not very popular at the end of his days.
This is written in a very easy flowing manner and I highly recommend it.
We know about the highs from newspaper articles and movies. However, the darker side to Lindburg is also exposed here in a gentle way. In short, he was not very popular at the end of his days.
This is written in a very easy flowing manner and I highly recommend it.
Read
January 14, 2020My knowledge of Lindbergh is pretty limited, other than knowing he had something to do with flight and that there was the Lindbergh Baby situation. I went into this book, though, wanting to know more about those, but more than that, I wanted to see how Fleming took his story and made it relevant today. Because this is a book less about Lindbergh’s story ad more about how he became such a celebrity in the American eye and had influence on a number of political situations in the 30s and 40s.
Fleming gives insight into Lindbergh’s privileged childhood on the Mississippi River, where he had a politician for a father and an extremely doting mother. His mother was so dotig, in fact, when Charles decided to attend college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she went went him so they could live together. He didn’t last at the school long, as tended to be his way with formal education. He was fascinated with flight and realized he wanted to learn to do it. So he attended a flight school and eventually took on a mail route between St. Louis and Chicago. It was here he realized a new dream: be the first trans-continental flight, going from New York to Paris. When he’s successful, he becomes more and more well-known, to the point where he and his family need to relocate in order to achieve any semblance of privacy. He, of course, loved it even if he pretended otherwise, but it was this fame that led to his one-year-old son being kidnapped and murdered.
Lindbergh and his wife Ann were both making names for themselves when they moved to the UK, and it was here when Lindbergh became fascinated with the Nnazi regime in Germany. Turns out, he was a eugenist, and the Nazi’s showmanship of Berlin, the way their country “looked” to him, was what he believed an ideal world looked like. Nevermind that he’d been fooled by the Nazis. Being a eugenist, he already believed in white supremacy, and this only helped fuel his racism and bigotry harder. Lindbergh returned to the US and found himself able to rally supporters for his “America First” beliefs -- sound familiar? -- and take on a role in America’s entrance into World War II in an unexpected way.
Fleming’s book is fair, offering the good Lindbergh offered, as well as the reality of the dark side of his character. He’s neither lauded nor chided. He’s presented as he was, and the story is utterly compelling. My one little quibble is that at the end of the book, details about some other scandals in his life are rushed. It’s likely the information isn’t easily available, but I wanted to know way more about the three (!) secret families Lindbergh managed to have and keep secret from his wife Ann and their children. I’d have loved, too, a little more about where he stands today in the public eye, though I thought the way Fleming made his story parallel today’s celebrity politicians savvy and spot-on.
This is excellent YA nonfiction. It offers a fair and full look at a complicated individual without offering sympathy or excuses for his less-glamorous beliefs or behaviors. The photos in this book only make it that much stronger, too.
Fleming gives insight into Lindbergh’s privileged childhood on the Mississippi River, where he had a politician for a father and an extremely doting mother. His mother was so dotig, in fact, when Charles decided to attend college at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, she went went him so they could live together. He didn’t last at the school long, as tended to be his way with formal education. He was fascinated with flight and realized he wanted to learn to do it. So he attended a flight school and eventually took on a mail route between St. Louis and Chicago. It was here he realized a new dream: be the first trans-continental flight, going from New York to Paris. When he’s successful, he becomes more and more well-known, to the point where he and his family need to relocate in order to achieve any semblance of privacy. He, of course, loved it even if he pretended otherwise, but it was this fame that led to his one-year-old son being kidnapped and murdered.
Lindbergh and his wife Ann were both making names for themselves when they moved to the UK, and it was here when Lindbergh became fascinated with the Nnazi regime in Germany. Turns out, he was a eugenist, and the Nazi’s showmanship of Berlin, the way their country “looked” to him, was what he believed an ideal world looked like. Nevermind that he’d been fooled by the Nazis. Being a eugenist, he already believed in white supremacy, and this only helped fuel his racism and bigotry harder. Lindbergh returned to the US and found himself able to rally supporters for his “America First” beliefs -- sound familiar? -- and take on a role in America’s entrance into World War II in an unexpected way.
Fleming’s book is fair, offering the good Lindbergh offered, as well as the reality of the dark side of his character. He’s neither lauded nor chided. He’s presented as he was, and the story is utterly compelling. My one little quibble is that at the end of the book, details about some other scandals in his life are rushed. It’s likely the information isn’t easily available, but I wanted to know way more about the three (!) secret families Lindbergh managed to have and keep secret from his wife Ann and their children. I’d have loved, too, a little more about where he stands today in the public eye, though I thought the way Fleming made his story parallel today’s celebrity politicians savvy and spot-on.
This is excellent YA nonfiction. It offers a fair and full look at a complicated individual without offering sympathy or excuses for his less-glamorous beliefs or behaviors. The photos in this book only make it that much stronger, too.
July 15, 2020
Can we just agree that Candace Fleming is a national treasure. She does such a job showing this man who is both appalling and inspirational.
May 22, 2020
Definitely not 5 stars for Charles Lindbergh though. Yikes.
April 6, 2020
Engrossing book.
Gross human.
A great read, though.
Gross human.
A great read, though.
February 17, 2021
I like reading YA nonfiction because it's often a good, compelling way to learn a reasonable amount of information about something/someone without committing to like 1000 pages about Charles Lindbergh (for example), and this definitely delivered on that. I thought the prologue with Lindbergh at an America First rally, indirectly reminding the reader of Trump rally, was a good way to start the book--making the content feel fresh and starting you right off with the news that eventually Lindbergh is headed to yikes-town. (I first learned about that era of Lindbergh's life from The Plot Against America lol but I imagine most teens might not be as familiar with Lindbergh's love affair with eugenics). After that prologue it's a chronological look at Lindbergh's life starting with his wack childhood, letting you understand some of why he might grow up to be such a wack adult (though also one with the strength and persistence to, for example, fly solo from New York to Paris). I think Fleming does a good job of not excusing any of Lindbergh's shit but giving you some context for it.
I will say that there is a lot in here about the extremely active role Lindbergh took in eugenic "scientific research" that involves a lot of animal experimentation that made me squeamish! (In addition to the squeamishness over the racism and ableism involved!) Yikes! Anyway between the aeronautics, the eugenics, the kidnapping, the WWII stuff...there's something in this for a lot of readers. Definitely an engaging read, especially for teens interested in science/history.
I will say that there is a lot in here about the extremely active role Lindbergh took in eugenic "scientific research" that involves a lot of animal experimentation that made me squeamish! (In addition to the squeamishness over the racism and ableism involved!) Yikes! Anyway between the aeronautics, the eugenics, the kidnapping, the WWII stuff...there's something in this for a lot of readers. Definitely an engaging read, especially for teens interested in science/history.
November 26, 2020
Well, wow. Charles Lindbergh was, as they say, a real piece of work. I guess he was complicated - in that he did some amazing things and did suffer a wretched tragedy with the kidnapping and death of his son, but he was also an enthusiastic eugenicist and racist who believed in white supremacy with unshakable devotion. He encouraged hate in others and supported the Nazis. I surely did not know much about him and now that I do - I’m not a fan. Also, interesting parallels with a certain recently defeated dipshit American President.
November 20, 2020
the authors writing is amazing. it flowed neatly, and I wish I could rate it higher than a 2. going into this book, I knew Charles Lindbergh was a Nazi Sympathizer, and I go away with the opinion that he was a selfish, racist and disgusting human being!
March 16, 2020
Richie’s Picks: THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH by Candace Fleming, Random House/Schwartz & Wade, February 2020, 384p., ISBN: 978-0-525-64654-9
“There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it's a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason.”
-- dead, anti-Semitic, children’s author, Roald Dahl (1983)
“Well they say time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he’s real, he’s a legend from heaven
If he ain’t, he was sent here from hell”
-- Little Feat (1977)
“Into the world rode Charles Lindbergh.
He did not fit in.
Shy and clean-shaven, he was remarkably wholesome. He didn’t drink or smoke. He didn’t touch caffeine, not even Coca-Cola, and he cared nothing for fashionable clothes. He’d never learned to dance or been on a date.
He also lived with his mother.
Incredibly, Evangeline had followed her son to college. Renting a two-bedroom apartment close to campus, she went about keeping house for the eighteen-year-old freshman. Charles didn’t mind; being with his mother was better than living with strangers in a dorm.
Charles steered clear of most people. He found the other students childish and their activities pointless. It wasn’t long before his classmates left him as alone as he seemed to want to be. They judged him different and odd, a boy who ‘went home every night to have dinner with his mother.’
Things were no better in the classroom. Unable to concentrate, he daydreamed and doodled and took long hikes beside the lake instead of completing assignments. Despite his mother’s help (she wrote his papers), his grades were poor. ‘Why should one spend hours of life on formulae, semi-colons, and our crazy English spelling?’ he asks himself. ‘I don’t believe God made man to fiddle with pencil marks on a paper. He gave him earth and air to feel. And now even wings to fly…’”
Charles Lindbergh, who grew up the son of a midwest Congressman, was a doer, not a thinker. He was driving cars at age 10, before most Americans had even ridden in one. He had a wealth of practical experiences in the workshop alongside a beloved inventor-scientist grandfather. He learned to farm and to selectively breed livestock.
But when he went to college, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he soon flunked out, despite his mother’s generous assistance.
THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH is Candace Fleming’s best book to date. Tremendous research into this complex and controversial subject has been artfully turned into an emotionally wrenching story that’s exceptionally well told. It’s an engaging tale with many twists, turns, triumphs, and tragedies.
It was an early wave in the age of aviation, and Charles Lindbergh rode it. After learning to fly, he barnstormed around the Midwest before excelling in an advanced, year-long flying program in the army reserve. Then, combining his aptitude for invention with his ability to fly, he co-designed the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane in which he flew nonstop from New York to Paris. As the first person to accomplish this feat, Lindbergh instantly became one of the best known and most celebrated men in America.
But Charles Lindbergh was a doer, not a thinker.
“Major Smith marveled at Charles’s knowledge of mechanics, while Kay admired his vitality and confidence. Neither, however, was impressed by his knowledge of history or government. He was, admitted Kay, ‘a naïve political thinker.’ And when it came to understanding post-World War I Europe, his mind was ‘an empty void.’”
Charles Lindbergh was one of the most popular and influential men in the world in the 1930s. Therefore, it was a propaganda coup for Adolf Hitler when he hosted Lindbergh at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Lindbergh became enamored of the Führer and the way he was running Germany.
The author provides a meticulously-researched indictment of Lindbergh, who was duped by the Germans, and nearly moved to Berlin to be part of Hitler’s Germany. Lindbergh’s public speeches urging isolationism by the U.S., and his claim that American Jews were dangerous to our country’s interests ran counter to FDR’s need to gather support for bolstering our European allies in the war against Hitler’s aggression. Lindbergh’s widely-reported pro-Germany, anti-Semitic statements found some traction at home as Hitler moved forward on slaughtering millions of European Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, and others.
“There’s a well-worn tradition in most societies of marginalizing ‘the Other.’ Xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, starts as rhetoric, very quickly migrates to discrimination, and can result in violence. It is extremely important that parts of our society that aren’t themselves being targeted by anti-Semitism see this as a warning when antisemitic discrimination or violent acts happen, it is a threat to liberal society.”
-- Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, in “Anti-Semitism Today,” a presentation of the United States Holicaust Memorial Museum
In the 21st century, anti-Semitism continues to show its ugliness. Given his role in supporting Nazi Germany, and perpetuating these lies, Charles Lindbergh is no hero of mine.
Young people need to learn about the complexity of history, and that things aren’t always black and white: a hero in one respect can be a villain in another. It will be eye-opening for them to learn about this famous and infamous American who completed a historically remarkable flight and followed it up with an oft-reprehensible life.
Nonfiction for young people doesn’t get any better than this. A must read for ages 10 and up.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it's a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean there is always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason.”
-- dead, anti-Semitic, children’s author, Roald Dahl (1983)
“Well they say time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he’s real, he’s a legend from heaven
If he ain’t, he was sent here from hell”
-- Little Feat (1977)
“Into the world rode Charles Lindbergh.
He did not fit in.
Shy and clean-shaven, he was remarkably wholesome. He didn’t drink or smoke. He didn’t touch caffeine, not even Coca-Cola, and he cared nothing for fashionable clothes. He’d never learned to dance or been on a date.
He also lived with his mother.
Incredibly, Evangeline had followed her son to college. Renting a two-bedroom apartment close to campus, she went about keeping house for the eighteen-year-old freshman. Charles didn’t mind; being with his mother was better than living with strangers in a dorm.
Charles steered clear of most people. He found the other students childish and their activities pointless. It wasn’t long before his classmates left him as alone as he seemed to want to be. They judged him different and odd, a boy who ‘went home every night to have dinner with his mother.’
Things were no better in the classroom. Unable to concentrate, he daydreamed and doodled and took long hikes beside the lake instead of completing assignments. Despite his mother’s help (she wrote his papers), his grades were poor. ‘Why should one spend hours of life on formulae, semi-colons, and our crazy English spelling?’ he asks himself. ‘I don’t believe God made man to fiddle with pencil marks on a paper. He gave him earth and air to feel. And now even wings to fly…’”
Charles Lindbergh, who grew up the son of a midwest Congressman, was a doer, not a thinker. He was driving cars at age 10, before most Americans had even ridden in one. He had a wealth of practical experiences in the workshop alongside a beloved inventor-scientist grandfather. He learned to farm and to selectively breed livestock.
But when he went to college, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he soon flunked out, despite his mother’s generous assistance.
THE RISE AND FALL OF CHARLES LINDBERGH is Candace Fleming’s best book to date. Tremendous research into this complex and controversial subject has been artfully turned into an emotionally wrenching story that’s exceptionally well told. It’s an engaging tale with many twists, turns, triumphs, and tragedies.
It was an early wave in the age of aviation, and Charles Lindbergh rode it. After learning to fly, he barnstormed around the Midwest before excelling in an advanced, year-long flying program in the army reserve. Then, combining his aptitude for invention with his ability to fly, he co-designed the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane in which he flew nonstop from New York to Paris. As the first person to accomplish this feat, Lindbergh instantly became one of the best known and most celebrated men in America.
But Charles Lindbergh was a doer, not a thinker.
“Major Smith marveled at Charles’s knowledge of mechanics, while Kay admired his vitality and confidence. Neither, however, was impressed by his knowledge of history or government. He was, admitted Kay, ‘a naïve political thinker.’ And when it came to understanding post-World War I Europe, his mind was ‘an empty void.’”
Charles Lindbergh was one of the most popular and influential men in the world in the 1930s. Therefore, it was a propaganda coup for Adolf Hitler when he hosted Lindbergh at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Lindbergh became enamored of the Führer and the way he was running Germany.
The author provides a meticulously-researched indictment of Lindbergh, who was duped by the Germans, and nearly moved to Berlin to be part of Hitler’s Germany. Lindbergh’s public speeches urging isolationism by the U.S., and his claim that American Jews were dangerous to our country’s interests ran counter to FDR’s need to gather support for bolstering our European allies in the war against Hitler’s aggression. Lindbergh’s widely-reported pro-Germany, anti-Semitic statements found some traction at home as Hitler moved forward on slaughtering millions of European Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, and others.
“There’s a well-worn tradition in most societies of marginalizing ‘the Other.’ Xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, starts as rhetoric, very quickly migrates to discrimination, and can result in violence. It is extremely important that parts of our society that aren’t themselves being targeted by anti-Semitism see this as a warning when antisemitic discrimination or violent acts happen, it is a threat to liberal society.”
-- Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, in “Anti-Semitism Today,” a presentation of the United States Holicaust Memorial Museum
In the 21st century, anti-Semitism continues to show its ugliness. Given his role in supporting Nazi Germany, and perpetuating these lies, Charles Lindbergh is no hero of mine.
Young people need to learn about the complexity of history, and that things aren’t always black and white: a hero in one respect can be a villain in another. It will be eye-opening for them to learn about this famous and infamous American who completed a historically remarkable flight and followed it up with an oft-reprehensible life.
Nonfiction for young people doesn’t get any better than this. A must read for ages 10 and up.
Richie Partington, MLIS
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February 27, 2020
3.5*'s
What a conflicting figure.
Amazing pilot and author. First to cross the Atlantic NY to Paris. Nobel prize for Autobiography. His son was kidnapped and murdered.
Then the other side. Racist, antisemitic, Nazi sympathizer, bigamist with 3 secret families spawning a half dozen children or so. Eugenics proponent and contributor.
Crazy.
What a conflicting figure.
Amazing pilot and author. First to cross the Atlantic NY to Paris. Nobel prize for Autobiography. His son was kidnapped and murdered.
Then the other side. Racist, antisemitic, Nazi sympathizer, bigamist with 3 secret families spawning a half dozen children or so. Eugenics proponent and contributor.
Crazy.
June 12, 2021
Describes Charle's Lindburg's rise to fame with his trans-Atlantic flight and his swift downfall as he embraced Nazi propoganda.
NC HBOB 2021-2022 selection. Before reading I was only familiar with Charles Lindburg's accomplishments. I didn't know about his anti-Semitism or embracing the Nazi party so I learned a surprising lot.
NC HBOB 2021-2022 selection. Before reading I was only familiar with Charles Lindburg's accomplishments. I didn't know about his anti-Semitism or embracing the Nazi party so I learned a surprising lot.
May 10, 2021
I liked this one, although maybe not as much as I expected to.
June 29, 2021
Candace Fleming is YA nonfiction royalty and this book just further cements that. She takes an extraordinarily complex figure and presents an engaging portrait of his life, both warts and triumphs. And it is an absolutely fascinating life. Despite being a deeply problematic person, Lindbergh was still a compelling figure and this book demonstrates why.
July 2, 2021
Have you ever been on the precipice of deciding if a person's accomplishment outweigh their negative impacts? Well, Candace Fleming has put me in the quandary. While I admit most people who are known for their greatness often have something that is ominous in their lives (Steve Job's insane OCD, Conan Doyle's insistence that fairies exist, etc). But Charles Lindberg, well, he is in a class all on his own.
Ok, the good of Lindberg: he is a determined man. He didn't do all of it for the fame (in fact, he shunned all fame). He was studious. He was able to change his mind. And the bad: well, you will have to read the book to find out why I would say that he is no longer someone that I would be impressed by. I will say that while he recognized that his beliefs could be altered (and they did), he never admitted any wrongdoings on his part based on his beliefs, or his hypocrisy.
Not sure if I'm spoiling anything by this review, and since it is a biography, I'm sure there are some of the things we can find on the internet. But Ms. Fleming (who I heard her talk once and is now one of my heroes), brings about his life in such an interesting read I was memorized in learning about him.
This book did change my life, hence the 5 star. But only because I feel like I was duped by his accomplishments.
Ok, the good of Lindberg: he is a determined man. He didn't do all of it for the fame (in fact, he shunned all fame). He was studious. He was able to change his mind. And the bad: well, you will have to read the book to find out why I would say that he is no longer someone that I would be impressed by. I will say that while he recognized that his beliefs could be altered (and they did), he never admitted any wrongdoings on his part based on his beliefs, or his hypocrisy.
Not sure if I'm spoiling anything by this review, and since it is a biography, I'm sure there are some of the things we can find on the internet. But Ms. Fleming (who I heard her talk once and is now one of my heroes), brings about his life in such an interesting read I was memorized in learning about him.
This book did change my life, hence the 5 star. But only because I feel like I was duped by his accomplishments.
May 30, 2021
This was the perfect time to read this book for 2 reasons. First, because it outlines the blueprint our last president followed in order to capture his base. Lindbergh and his America First group did it first - the distrust and hated of the press, the roughing up of protestors and the need to do rallies, because only he was “telling the truth”. Absolutely frightening. Read the prologue and it will give you chills.
Secondly, this plays right into the current argument in education. Do we teach our students the real history of America, including the bad stuff? Can we trust students to still love their country even when they learn about the truth? We all know the glossy story of Charles Lindbergh - first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, Spirit of St Louis, blah blah blah. But how many people know he was a racist? A supporter of Hitler?That he fought hard to keep America from helping defend our European allies in WWII? That he believed in eugenics and that only people who had “superior” genes should be allowed to procreate? Are we serving our students and citizens of this country by worshipping an idol while ignoring who he truly was? I think not.
Secondly, this plays right into the current argument in education. Do we teach our students the real history of America, including the bad stuff? Can we trust students to still love their country even when they learn about the truth? We all know the glossy story of Charles Lindbergh - first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, Spirit of St Louis, blah blah blah. But how many people know he was a racist? A supporter of Hitler?That he fought hard to keep America from helping defend our European allies in WWII? That he believed in eugenics and that only people who had “superior” genes should be allowed to procreate? Are we serving our students and citizens of this country by worshipping an idol while ignoring who he truly was? I think not.
January 11, 2020
An absolutely fascinating biography of an American legend. This is such a complete portrait of Lindbergh from his loner-childhood to his devotion to pushing the boundaries of aviation, from the burden of obsessive celebrity to the loss of his first child to kidnapping. Fleming doesn't end the story there however, she also forges into his later life as a Nazi-sympathizer. I did hesitate to pick up this book about a dead white man for a minute or two, but from the moment I started it I was completely sucked in by Fleming's exceptional story-telling. The relevance to the right-wing politics of the present is there but an even bigger reason to read to is gain understanding of this inspirational/problematic figure in American history. There were so many surprises!
October 25, 2020
Well....makes one think about one's education growing up: what we were taught, what was left out.
And...how much research Fleming did in order to write this book!
notes:
p. 133: Dr. Carrel's laboratory...oh, my
p. 139: "The Perfection of Mankind"
And...how much research Fleming did in order to write this book!
notes:
p. 133: Dr. Carrel's laboratory...oh, my
p. 139: "The Perfection of Mankind"
October 25, 2020
A hefty read for young readers, both in content and volume.
Lots of details about this self-made iconic American with a very dark side.
Lots of details about this self-made iconic American with a very dark side.
January 1, 2021
This should win an award. Shows a complex person with no empathy whose belief in superiority of one race shaped an ugliness of character.
February 22, 2021
Candace Fleming is magic. She can write about a subject I never thought I would be interested in and BAM that’s it, I’m all in.
August 10, 2021
This was an intense read for me. I read Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gifts from the Sea in my early 20s and then read several volumes of her published journals. I loved her insights and felt attached to her. So my focus was always on Anne and Charles was the person she portrayed in her journals. This biography fleshes out my view of Charles and shows a lot of controversial and disturbing things about his worldview, political views, and personal relationships. A very gifted and complex man. I think it would have been hard to be married to him, and I'm kind of sad at all of the revelations at the end, but it was a fascinating book.
August 31, 2020
A tainted hero, a cracked icon, Charles Lindbergh is someone to admire and revile in equal parts. Fleming does a first-rate job of bringing him to life, warts and all. We feel the tractor beam of his charisma, and we squirm over his Josef-Menegele-like experiments with eugenics. We weep for the heartbreaking loss of his baby boy, and we shake our heads over the three secret families he had in Germany and Switzerland. We cheer when he is the first to fly from New York to Paris, and wince when he proudly accepts a medal from Hitler. Was he a monumental man? Or just a man with monumental flaws?
October 13, 2022
Here’s a traditional, chronological look at an American icon, told in more of a YA style. Got it on a recommendation from our wonderful new librarian! Didn’t have the Chernow, Kearns-Goodwin, McCullough vibe, thick with letters and interviews and drawn-out events. From the very start the language is simpler, true to the jacket info that it was “good for teens.” But that didn’t take away from the narrative style here, giving us a very tactile and observable explanation of his life and work. Paints CL as a little off, somewhat stoic and unfeeling, perhaps more dedicated to aviation and science than family.
Fleming seems to brace the reader for what’s to come, giving us a prologue of a racist rally at Madison Square Garden where he’s the main speaker. From there we slowly, somewhat carefully, into the man’s work in eugenics and racism. But eventually these flaws take center stage, such that by midway the book seems to be less about aviation and more about his controversial views.
This provided me with some of the fuel for all the stuff I read in Philip Roth’s powerful speculative novel, The Plot Against America. History professors might not believe it scholarly, but here’s a biography for the rest of us.
Fleming seems to brace the reader for what’s to come, giving us a prologue of a racist rally at Madison Square Garden where he’s the main speaker. From there we slowly, somewhat carefully, into the man’s work in eugenics and racism. But eventually these flaws take center stage, such that by midway the book seems to be less about aviation and more about his controversial views.
This provided me with some of the fuel for all the stuff I read in Philip Roth’s powerful speculative novel, The Plot Against America. History professors might not believe it scholarly, but here’s a biography for the rest of us.
April 13, 2020
Apparently there's a lot more to Charles Lindbergh than being the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic and then subsequently have his baby stolen. This was well-researched and interesting, and I particularly liked that I could place the Bronx locations, having been to most of those neighborhoods. However, I kept sort of wondering why this book was written - was it merely to point out Lindbergh's faults? If so, definite success.
March 29, 2025
HE HAD THREE SEPARATE SECRET FAMILIES????
FOUR FAMILIES IN TOTAL???
FOUR FAMILIES IN TOTAL???
April 29, 2021
This book was fantastic! I had not idea about Charles Lindbergh past the flying history. Fascinating and a bit squidgy as he really wasn't such a great guy...
February 1, 2021
Y'all, I need a hot shower. Or maybe just a rubbing alcohol sponge bath for my brain.
What I learned about Charles Lindbergh in school: American hero who flew across the ocean in a plane called the Spirit of St. Louis, then later his baby got kidnapped.
What I learned about Charles Lindbergh after reading this book:
He suuuuuuuuuucked. He was the quintessential arrogant, entitled white guy. He was intelligent, but he didn't see the value in getting a well-rounded education. He said he loved his wife and children, but he dominated them. He believed so wholly in eugenics and white supremacy that he let the Nazis hoodwink him, praised Hitler, and never fully recanted that praise or condemned Hitler. Also, he
His wife Anne comes across as a bit more nuanced and capable of growth, but she shared a lot of his less savory beliefs. For a while, I felt sorry for her. They did not have a marriage of equals. She was too much in awe of him, and it sounds like she couldn't help getting swept up in his forceful personality because she was shy and sensitive. No doubt he realized when he selected her that he could easily control her. My heart broke for her over her grief for their lost child, especially since Charles told her to shut up and move on. Eventually, though, I got fed up with her passivity. Even when she realized his beliefs were wrong, she doesn't seem to have ever called him out on them. She just kept loving and supporting him, and then she wrote a bestselling book about rich white mom problems. By that point, I felt very "shut up, Karen" about Anne.
The timing of the book feels extremely political, but I don't want to be cynical about it. All art is political, including literature, right down to some board books. The US has its roots in white supremacy. This biography reminds us that textbooks buzz through history so quickly that they often fail to provide context, and that they are shaped into a pro-US narrative that celebrates accomplishments (we flew across the ocean non-stop first!) and leaves out failings (but the guy who did it turned out to be a shitheel.) Examining the lives behind those bold print names in the textbooks with a cold eye offers a more complete and unvarnished look at history.
What I learned about Charles Lindbergh in school: American hero who flew across the ocean in a plane called the Spirit of St. Louis, then later his baby got kidnapped.
What I learned about Charles Lindbergh after reading this book:
He suuuuuuuuuucked. He was the quintessential arrogant, entitled white guy. He was intelligent, but he didn't see the value in getting a well-rounded education. He said he loved his wife and children, but he dominated them. He believed so wholly in eugenics and white supremacy that he let the Nazis hoodwink him, praised Hitler, and never fully recanted that praise or condemned Hitler. Also, he
His wife Anne comes across as a bit more nuanced and capable of growth, but she shared a lot of his less savory beliefs. For a while, I felt sorry for her. They did not have a marriage of equals. She was too much in awe of him, and it sounds like she couldn't help getting swept up in his forceful personality because she was shy and sensitive. No doubt he realized when he selected her that he could easily control her. My heart broke for her over her grief for their lost child, especially since Charles told her to shut up and move on. Eventually, though, I got fed up with her passivity. Even when she realized his beliefs were wrong, she doesn't seem to have ever called him out on them. She just kept loving and supporting him, and then she wrote a bestselling book about rich white mom problems. By that point, I felt very "shut up, Karen" about Anne.
The timing of the book feels extremely political, but I don't want to be cynical about it. All art is political, including literature, right down to some board books. The US has its roots in white supremacy. This biography reminds us that textbooks buzz through history so quickly that they often fail to provide context, and that they are shaped into a pro-US narrative that celebrates accomplishments (we flew across the ocean non-stop first!) and leaves out failings (but the guy who did it turned out to be a shitheel.) Examining the lives behind those bold print names in the textbooks with a cold eye offers a more complete and unvarnished look at history.
December 1, 2020
A biography of record-breaking airplane pilot, Charles Lindbergh, from his birth and beyond his fame through family tragedy, radical politics, and eventual death.
This is kind of like reading about a train wreck. You know it is going to end badly, but it is really hard to look away. It's sad, but Fleming has written in such an engaging way it is hard to put down. As usual, Fleming has also done a fantastic job of incorporating as many primary sources as possible. You know when you pick up any nonfiction book by Candace Fleming that she has done copious amounts of research, and it shows. I like that she presents the facts and allows readers to draw their own conclusions, she keeps her own opinions out of the majority of her writing and it feels that much more reliable because of it. I personally wonder if Charles Lindbergh wasn't on the autism spectrum with the way he didn't like to be touched, preferred to be alone, very much had tunnel vision (especially in his ideas about eugenics and esteeming Hitler), was brilliant in some areas but really struggled in much of his academics, and demanded things be just so. While on the one hand Lindbergh's opinions about genetics and who is "worthy" are supremely disturbing and the way he treated his wife is often maddening, you still sometimes find yourself feeling for him in losing a child because of fame and the heartless, incessant hounding he received from reporters. I think that shows just how marvelous Fleming's writing is that she can fully communicate just how complex and messy a person can be. If you are looking for an amazingly well-written biography, pick up any of Candace Fleming's.
Notes on content: I think there were two minor swears in quotes. No sex scenes. It is related very matter of factly that Lindbergh had affairs later in his life and fathered children with multiple women. No sexual details. The kidnapping and death of Lindbergh's oldest son is covered in detail, with some detailed description of the state of the corpse upon discovery and the theory of how the child died related. Deaths in WWII and treatment of the Jews by the Nazis get a lot of focus, and Lindbergh's very twisted views of this. Lindbergh was obsessed with trying to figure out how to beat death, and with a doctor did a lot of experiments on animals that involved many of those animals being killed.
This is kind of like reading about a train wreck. You know it is going to end badly, but it is really hard to look away. It's sad, but Fleming has written in such an engaging way it is hard to put down. As usual, Fleming has also done a fantastic job of incorporating as many primary sources as possible. You know when you pick up any nonfiction book by Candace Fleming that she has done copious amounts of research, and it shows. I like that she presents the facts and allows readers to draw their own conclusions, she keeps her own opinions out of the majority of her writing and it feels that much more reliable because of it. I personally wonder if Charles Lindbergh wasn't on the autism spectrum with the way he didn't like to be touched, preferred to be alone, very much had tunnel vision (especially in his ideas about eugenics and esteeming Hitler), was brilliant in some areas but really struggled in much of his academics, and demanded things be just so. While on the one hand Lindbergh's opinions about genetics and who is "worthy" are supremely disturbing and the way he treated his wife is often maddening, you still sometimes find yourself feeling for him in losing a child because of fame and the heartless, incessant hounding he received from reporters. I think that shows just how marvelous Fleming's writing is that she can fully communicate just how complex and messy a person can be. If you are looking for an amazingly well-written biography, pick up any of Candace Fleming's.
Notes on content: I think there were two minor swears in quotes. No sex scenes. It is related very matter of factly that Lindbergh had affairs later in his life and fathered children with multiple women. No sexual details. The kidnapping and death of Lindbergh's oldest son is covered in detail, with some detailed description of the state of the corpse upon discovery and the theory of how the child died related. Deaths in WWII and treatment of the Jews by the Nazis get a lot of focus, and Lindbergh's very twisted views of this. Lindbergh was obsessed with trying to figure out how to beat death, and with a doctor did a lot of experiments on animals that involved many of those animals being killed.
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