Last Flight

by Amelia Earhart, George Palmer Putnam (Arranger)

Earhart's account of her ill-fated last flight around the world, begun in 1937, remains one of the most moving and absorbing adventure stories of all time. Compiled here are dispatches, letters, diary entries and charts she sent to her husband at each stage of her trip.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Aviation, Memoir, Travel, Biography Memoir

140 pages, Paperback

Published July 9, 1996

About the author

American aviator Amelia Earhart, the first such woman, flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932 and from Hawaii to California in 1935. While attempting to fly around the world, she crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1937 and presumably died, and people never found her.

People note Amelia Mary Earhart, a pioneer and author. Earhart received the Distinguished Flying Cross, award. She set many other records and wrote best-selling books about her experiences; she instrumentally formed The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.

During a circumnavigation of the globe, Earhart disappeared over the near Howland Island. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day. She went missing July 2, 1937, and people declared her dead on January 5, 1939.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_...

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I'm not going to lie I was expecting the book to be a little more personable. It was a great book, but I wanted to know more of what she was feeling and even more about her relationship with her husband. I kept on trying to see if she were ever going to say that she missed him or thought about him from time to time. You know, something more on the romantic side? Which I don't think Amelia even thought like that. The book was mainly a log of her flying, landing and departing. On occasion she did slide in some humor. You come to find while reading this book that Amelia was very corky and silly. Haha.. She's funny. Though, she talked about Fred more than her husband. I understand because Fred was with her 24/7, but again, I was hoping she would get deep with her log ins. I'm not going to critic it's writing and its grammatical errors, because well, it's Amelia, she can do whatever she wants, lol. But it was sometimes hard to read. I still enjoyed it very much and loved the fact that this book found me at the perfect time; I was cleaning out my dad's old book shelf when I found it. Had no paper covering, just very worn out read cover with just the title written in gold. I about to leave on a family trip to North Carolina so I thought I'd take it with. I was towards the end of the book and towards the end of the trip when my family decided to stop in Kittyhawk, NC, where the Wright Brother's first made flight. In the museum there were walls covered with iconic people who were very significant to the art of flying. Low and behold there was a portrait and plaque of Amelia Earhart. I stared at her picture for a very long time...and definitely thought, in some weird way, the book found me for a reason. Her life still intrigues me, as well as of course others.
Anyways, if you love Amelia and want to know more about her trip, her last flight, this book is incredible for that.

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful account of Amelia Earhart's last big flight, around the world -- and necessarily an incomplete tale. It is told in the first person, and her voice is charming. She makes you feel like a close friend as she sends dispatches and updates from various stops around the world. In fact, she gathers such momentum and has such continued success that, even when you know how this story ends, it is wrenching to reach the last chapter and find -- nothing.

I loved reading about her love of airplanes, and I was enthralled by the description of her mammoth (to me) airplane -- an order of magnitude heavier than the little Cessnas that I fly, and with a fuel capacity of 1150 gallons (the Cessna holds 40)!

And here, this bit of her attitude towards risk: "The time to worry is three months before a flight. Decide then whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying. To worry is to add another hazard. It retards reactions, makes one unfit."

I would have liked to talk with her in person, and I can't help but be awed by her drive and her accomplishments.

[OLATZ ARROITA · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro cuenta cómo consiguió Amelia Earhart llegar a ser piloto y cuenta también su vuelo alrededor del mundo.
Al finalizar cada etapa, Amelia mandaba cartas a su marido, junto con sus diarios de abordo, y es por eso que tenemos el libro.
Lo mejor del libro, percibir pasión por la aviación y por justificar que las mujeres pueden llegar tan lejos como los hombres.
Una gran pérdida. Una pena.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

***To me I feel this book should get a one-star but there may still be others who might be interested by it thus the generous ranking on my behalf.***

In our intimate family we are rather quite divided upon explorers from this time. My sister has been a large fan of Amelia Earhart since our youngest years while I am the one that leans for the a bit more obscure Osa Johnson along with her husband thus I received the book from her since there is a very indirect mention of Amelia having talked with Osa before but with no details provided to the reader.

Instead Last Flight is a story that was meant to be provided to the reader as an incomplete work-in-progress along with some other secondary personal notes, logbook information from her flights and also personal thoughts. Unfortunately the book as such has the first five chapters provided to anything but her last flight with very brief mentions to her other record flights of the oceans in which very little details are shared to the reader and the Mexico record flight, which was a bit more interesting since she goes a bit more into the details that the other ones missed. As my sister says it is basically a buildup for if you don't know her but a very incomplete one that won't add to much of your understanding.

My impression, though, on reading this book is just really how dumb this woman must have been and the eye rolls I give for her political inclinations such as how we have wronged the Africans without acknowledging the place of said Africans in wronging their own people. Furthermore the book leans heavily on her feminist views thus the formality of her husband's name throughout even though the reporters call her "miss" instead of "mrs" and the fact that she acknowledges that since of her sex she has received quite some nice benefits as people cater to her needs instead of denying them to do it all on her own.

At the same time overlooking those inclinations as mentioned above she likes to talk about how looking at the scenery is rather distracting and shouldn't be done so by a pilot then goes on to wax over the scenery quite heavily. She complains about how many gadgets there are on the dash of her plane and that it should be made easier for future pilots in the future, how she intentionally steered the plane in the wrong way during her arrival to Africa, sent her parachutes home before hitting the Pacific (still cannot figure this one out since even over the water a parachute should come in handy I would think) and mentioning the fact that she arrived just in time for the monsoons when if she had gone the way she had originally planned then she may have missed it even if barely. And this is all in addition to the many things that have gone wrong with this flight to begin with and during the trip while not taking that as a sign that maybe either we should come back to this at a later date when things are ironed out a bit more.

The book ends with her starting off on first part over the Pacific of the journey from her perspective, two very brief newspaper entries about not making it to her destination and a supposed letter in cursive that she gave to her husband just in case. Unlike previous entries where some translation was given for her horrendous cursive this has no translation thus makes it rather harder to read and instead ends up with a poem on the other page that doesn't relate to the letter.

Given the many questions that I have I can say I probably ended up doing more research back on her than I have done in a while on any famous Kansan and have come up with my own theory. To me and I could most definitely be wrong but this makes for a rather nice murder set-up by her said husband. There is just too much weird occurrences between them as a couple, the body of the letter, the gain that he gets, the red flags throughout and the whole weird encouragement or push that she thinks was her own idea when other sources suggest otherwise. Furthermore there is a timeline in the back of the book and someone chose to give her the wrong birth place, which if that was from her husband (as he arranged the book) really makes me wonder how he wouldn't know that information.

Meanwhile the book is illustrated with various black-and-white photographs in the midst with captions while different maps or transcript boxes appear in the text a few times.

All in all I can most definitely see some people who are fans of her wanting to read this and possibly enjoying it. But to me it was too much of a weird read even taking into consideration the age that this book occurs at while trying to give it the benefit of the doubt because of that.

[Bish Denham · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know how this story ends.

Amelia's writing is lovely and quite descriptive. She doesn't allow the reader to get into her head as she doesn't divulge much about herself or her relationships with Fred Noonan and her husband George Putnam. This book is really not about her at all, it's about the flight, the lands she flew over. It's about the journey. Even when they have landing or taking off issues, when there are mechanical problems, when the weather is bad, when they have to change routes, she's very cool about it all, unruffled. My take away is that that is exactly what her personality was like, that she was easy going, not demanding. This trip wasn't about ego, it was about adventure and yes, about proving that a woman could do it. Several times early in the book she talks about girls needing to be allowed to explore and learn and do everything that boys are allowed.

Even though she was lost during that very long last leg across the Pacific, I have come away after reading this short book with the conviction that she was a success. She did every bit of flying herself, she had no co-pilot to spell her. She remains a pioneer and her place in history should be remembered with awe and respect.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book on the last flight. Last Flight is the last book written by Amelia Earhart, before her disappearance somewhere over the South Pacific. Here, she has reached the pinnacle of her flying career and her writing. Amelia wrote Last Flight before and during this last stunt flight of flying around the world, at the equator. Amelia, and her copilot, Fred Noonan, disappeared on the most difficult leg of the trip, from Lae, New Guinea, to Howland Island.
Due to a delay at the beginning of the adventure, and a rerouting of the trip, Amelia wrote the early chapters of Last Flight during that downtime. The chapters regarding the flight, she wrote during the flight, which is phenomenal, as Amelia had enough to occupy her mind, with the numerous details of the flight, much less simultaneously writing about it all. It's not scrappily written either:

The fields and valleys were upholstered with a deep-piled green jungle in an unbelievably continuous covering made by separate trees. There were gashes in the verdant carpet of the hills and lowlands, where the roads of rubber plantations and tin mines challenged the forest. But the green growth is unconquerable. Given its head, it swallows up man's puny scratchings almost overnight in the hungry way that jungles have. 205

There are a very few spots in her writing, where sentiments expressed, would not pass the PC standards of today. I have found this, also, in other books written around this same time period, most recently from Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Different times and sensibilities are at play, because I know that Amelia Earhart is not a racist and she would probably be mortified, today, of such statements.

Her skills as a pilot are top notch! She handles the many challenges of the trip in a cool, professional manner. However, what was anyone thinking, to suggest a landing at Howland Island?! The island is only 2.4 miles long in the middle of the Pacific! Basically, a needle in a haystack. Amelia mentions, over and again, the difficulties of finding landing sites. On her solo flight, from Hawaii to California, Amelia worried she may have lost course and was heading for Alaska, instead of California, and these are much larger landmasses. Why not pick a larger Marsahll Island to land on and, from there, fly to Hawaii?

The abrupt ending of the book emphasizes the tragedy and a world bereft of Amelia.

Not much more than a month ago I was on the other shore of the Pacific, looking westward. This evening, I looked eastward over the Pacific. In those fast-moving days which have intervened, the whole width of the world has passed behind us - except this broad ocean. I shall be glad when we have the hazards of its navigation behind us. 226

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated by Amelia Earhart. I saw this book at a library book fair- very old, stamped discarded- and had to read it. Ameila was a very progressive woman, far ahead of her time. This book, which was really a travelogue of this last, ill-fated flight, showed her enthusiasm, courage and sense of adventure. She planned to return from her flight to Purdue University, where she hoped to encourage women to go into scientific fields. Womanhood lost a real trail blazer and a model for future woman when her plane went down. I just imagine all she could have accomplished if she had lived!

[Neil Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book & a must for all interested in the history of aviation. Well before GPS and even before radio communication was reliable, Amelia Earhart set out, with her navigator Fred Noonan, from California to circumnavigate the globe as closely as possible to the Equator, in a twin-engined Lockheed Electra. As each section was completed, she posted back her account to her husband in the US. Who later collated it into ‘Last Flight’. The route followed took her first to Miami, then across the Caribbean to Paramaribo in Dutch Guiana, then on to Natal in Brazil before crossing the Atlantic to Senegal. From there they flew across Africa stopping in places such as Fort Lamy in Chad & El Fasher in the Sudan before skirting Arabia to Karachi, then in India. After Calcutta they headed through Southeast Asia & Indonesia to Darwin & then Lae in modern Papua New Guinea. From here was the longest sector of 2556 miles to remote & tiny Howland Island in the central Pacific. Unfortunately they never made it. In her last two sentences she had sent home from Lae, she writes: “In those fast moving days which have intervened, the whole width of the world has passed behind us - except this broad ocean. I shall be glad when we have the hazards of its navigation behind us.” Her writing is descriptive of the places she visits, albeit only fleetingly, & one becomes quite aware of the hazards these early aviators had to contend with. A true classic in the annals of aviation history.

[Frances Wheare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last Flight is Amelia Earhart's account of her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. She made it as far as New Guinea but never arrived at her next way point, Howland Island. Consequently, this book has a somewhat eerie quality, as if it was written by a ghost, and I kept wondering when the disappearance would actually happen which was a little distracting (although that's very much the fault of the reader, not the book).

The book is an interesting mix of travelogue and biography, although I had to supplement the biographical information with a whizz through her wikipedia entry (turns out we share the same birthday!). Naturally enough, the book does not dwell on things like her unusual marriage to George Putman - why would it, when it's well outside the scope of what she's actually writing about? I was also struck by how differently she wrote about South America and Africa or India, which would have seemed so alien to her. She often compared these countries to areas she knew - central India was like Nebraska, central Africa like the south-western states - and her writing certainly displays a colonial mindset.

The book was compiled by Putnam from Earhart's own words - reports she sent back by cable or telephone as well as notes and log books -and apparently there is some doubt over how heavily Putnam editorialised her writing. Certainly, the writing is much more formal and polished than you would expect from someone who is in the midst of such a huge undertaking. It's a fascinating account, and has left me wanting to know more.

[Daniel Winnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really neat that this account of Earhart’s final near-circumnavigation exists, and in her own words, no less. She’s a personable writer, and most of the book is diaristic and even amusing. Other parts are rather dull, but this was, after all, a business trip.

I found the asides that revealed some of her hopes for the future—for herself, for the global interconnection promised by civil aviation, and for the advancement of women—most interesting.

There are also some useful footnotes inserted by George Putnam, which in a few instances further illuminate things Earhart mentions. Also, a number of documents are reproduced such as logs from the trip and a few pages handwritten by Earhart. Again, cool to see.

One should probably take such a book, a “diary” obviously meant for public consumption, with a grain of salt.

Overall, though, it’s a better book than I expected, and one can imagine famous aviators writing accounts far less engaging than this one!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute must read for anyone interested in Amelia Earhart. This book is written by Amelia Earhart as she made her Last Flight. She had been contracted to write this book before taking off and at each stop along the way, she sent her notes back to the States. This flight was to be her last ironically. It’s interesting to read her words and thoughts about the people she encountered. Some thoughts are very prophetic.

[Kim Nix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew very little about Amelia Earhart before reading this short book. I had no idea she wrote a diary of sorts during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 1937. She fully intended to write an account of her journey, so her logbook notes, observations, cables and letters were sent to her husband, George Putnam, as she and navigator Fred Noonan traveled. Putnam compiled the book, originally to be named World Flight, after she disappeared.

The book has some introductory chapters about her start in aviation, but most of it details each stop on her last journey. It’s clear that she was living her dream and fully aware of the risks. It left me a little sad and even more curious about this fascinating woman.

I was impressed by her fearlessness and that she longed for a time when women were treated equal to men. She saw many women on her travels and was struck by their lack of freedoms. She wrote: “I, for one, hope for the day when women will know no restrictions because of sex but will be individuals free to live their lives as men are free—irrespective of the continent or country where they happen to live.” She was definitely ahead of her time.

[Vincent Bange · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing

It is truly amazing that Amelia was able to document this trip the way she did. She was eloquent in her descriptions of so many places & able to convey so much about the different cultures she visited. What a tragedy that the journey ended prematurely. Even if you are only casually interested in her story I highly recommend reading this. Amelia Earhart was a trailblazer that wasn’t intimidated by anything & her loss was felt by millions.

[Drivetime.Fm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q: Last Flight is a book that consists of diary entries and other notes compiled by a famous pilot before their mysterious disappearance in 1937. The book Last Flight came out after the disappearance of which famous pilot?

[Christophe Germe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book showing a first person account of the tragic all the way to the last stop before disappearing. This book was not too long and was a pleasure to read. Anyone into aviation should read this book.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how they got the information to write the book.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and excellent read. Her language certainly dates her, but it is appropriate for the time. Amazing insights in a small volume.

[Nancy barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read - told in first person so it gives you a little bit of a glimpse into how she thought about things.

[Isabella]

i think this i going to be a good book

[Gabriella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I got to know this wonderful and courageous woman who, until reading this book, was just a figure in history to me.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a great deal more about Amelia than I knew before. One of our early women's rights advocates and amazing pilot.

[Jodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Katrina Bores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vivid descriptions of the journeys she did, such a courageous woman. Just wish she talked more about her childhood, but was still good to read about her last few journeys she took.

[Leanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it because it was Amelia Earhart, and let's face it - she was amazing. But, let's also face this, she was a pilot, not a writer. I wouldn't want a writer to fly a plane either. So, although it wasn't amazing writing, that's not what she set out to do anyway - she wanted to write a log of her travel around the world, and that's just what this is. Fairly interesting, but it's mostly details about her planes and her arrangements to get from country to country. It's kind of like watching the movie Titanic in that you know the ending before you start reading this book, but can't help but wish for an ending where she's still alive and well.
**The best part about this book is the fact that I picked it from the library's shelf because it looked like the oldest book they had - the copy was from 1937 and had the old library card in it, with stamps all through the 50's and 60's from people checking it out. I like imagining the people who held this copy and wondered just as I did about this great pilot - female explorer of the whole world.**

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, and important for Earhart devotees, but not necessarily the best overview for a reader new to the Earhart story. The book consists mostly of the notes and stories she sent back during the 40-odd days of her attempted flight around the world prior to her disappearance in 1937. She talks a lot about the aviation challenges they faced (lots of cleaning and refueling and mending) and the navigational methods they used. But it's not, of course, a full overview of her last flight because, of course, she couldn't finish it. What I found most fascinating is that you get a real sense of how she presented herself to the world -- very willing to talk in a chatty, conversational way about flying and the everyday experiences they had, but rarely venturing below the surface. And according to other biographies, that is who Amelia was -- generous in her public discussions but very reluctant to let others get to know her on a deep level. In that respect, and for what it reveals about the challenges and exhilarations of that last flight, it's fascinating.

[Devon · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you wanna learn more about Amelia than just her flighing abilitys then you need to read this book. It feels like you go back in time when Amelia Earhart was born and go though her life. From her childhood, education, wishes and goals in life, and other jobs she might of had but that's not it you also learn how Amelia got so interested in flighing and how she got so famous. The tragic ending to Amelia sums it all up in the end. So it you are interested in Amelia this is the book for you!

[Kate P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been intrigued by Amelia's sense of adventure and views on life. The plan was to call this book "World Flight" but it was changed to "Last Flight" after her disappearance one her way to Howland Island in July 1937. Her husband, George Palmer Putnam, published it from her notes. She would send maps, notes, etc. back home during her round the world flight. It is good to read her own words and thoughts as she and Fred Noonan made their journey around the world.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this knowing they were her own words but tragedy covered every comment she made about the future - so sad. I'm anxious now to find a good companion book about the search - I'll go blog-surfing and see what I can find.

[Maryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. Written by Amelia Earhart about her last flight around the world. She would send home her descriptions and notes throughout the trip. It got a little technical in parts for me, but it was interesting to see all the work that went into that trip.

[Kizz Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even when you know how it's going to end there's suspense. You begin to wonder if maybe this remarkable woman will pull it off anyway. Even as you hear her say, "next time" over and over again and wish you could tell her to do whatever it is right now.