Synopses & Reviews
On 14 June 1919 John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown took off from Newfoundland in their open-cockpit Vickers Vimy converted bomber to attempt a non-stop crossing of the Atlantic. Some 16 hours later they landed at Derrygimla in Connemara, Ireland, to become national heroes. Navigating blind for most of the way, they had flown almost 1,900 miles, the longest distance ever flown by man. In researching one of the most significant flights in history, Brendan Lynch has drawn on the written records of Alcock and Brown, and interviewed the last surviving witness of their dramatic arrival in Ireland and the adventurer Steve Fossett, who recreated the flight in 2005.
Synopsis
Now published as a paperback, Yesterday We Were in America is the first accurate and atmospheric account of one of the most significant and dramatic flights in history. On 15 June 1919 John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown took off from Newfoundland in their open-cockpit Vickers Vimy converted bomber, to attempt a non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Some 16 hours later they landed at Clifden in Connemara, Ireland, to become national heroes.
Synopsis
The author sets the background to the flight against the birth of manned powered flight and Britain in the aftermath of the First World War. He goes on to describe the record breaking flight in detail, drawing on Alcock and Brown’s written records and their flying log book, and concludes with a round-up of the fates of all the pioneers who are mentioned in the narrative, and the flight’s legacy for Everyman. Now published as a paperback, Yesterday We Were in America is the first accurate and atmospheric account of one of the most significant and dramatic flights in history.
About the Author
Brendan Lynch is a former Grand Prix correspondent for UK and Irish media including The Observer, Daily Mail and Irish Press. As a supporter of Bertrand Russell, he was imprisoned for anti-nuclear protests in the 1960s. He has written five books, including the award-winning motor racing history Green Dust. He lives in Dublin.