Mosley leonard lindbergh a biography on chris
Lindbergh: A Biography
February 22, 2013
Charles Lindbergh is one of those personalities where, I think, the generation gap most tells. I knew the name, that he was an early aviation hero, that he generated a fair amount of controversy by his isolationist (verging on pro-Nazi) stance during WW2 and the famous case of the 'Lindbergh baby', the kidnapping and death of his baby son - but that was about the sum total of my knowledge. His was a personality very removed from me, a name in the history books, little more.
I can't say I came away especially liking Charles Lindbergh. Mosley admits right at the start that Lindbergh was once a great hero of his, and there is a definite sense of almost wistfulness in these pages, a sadness and regret at the tarnishing of a hero - for that is exactly what happened to Lindbergh. He was the golden child, the poster boy of aviation, but his naivete, wilful blinkeredness and right-wing viewpoints during WW2 alienated great swathes of the American population, and his actions after the war never quite succeeded in regaining that lost opinion.
To be honest, I can't say I came away from this book with any greater understanding of the man - but that is no criticism of the author, Leonard Mosley. As described, Lindbergh seems to have been an intensely private man, who loathed the press and rarely gave anything of himself away, even to those closest to him. His estate denied Mosley permission to quote from a great number of Lindbergh's own letters, particularly those dealing with his actions and opinions during WW2. That with these limitations Mosley managed to make this biography still intriguing and compelling is an admirable achievement.
I can't say I came away especially liking Charles Lindbergh. Mosley admits right at the start that Lindbergh was once a great hero of his, and there is a definite sense of almost wistfulness in these pages, a sadness and regret at the tarnishing of a hero - for that is exactly what happened to Lindbergh. He was the golden child, the poster boy of aviation, but his naivete, wilful blinkeredness and right-wing viewpoints during WW2 alienated great swathes of the American population, and his actions after the war never quite succeeded in regaining that lost opinion.
To be honest, I can't say I came away from this book with any greater understanding of the man - but that is no criticism of the author, Leonard Mosley. As described, Lindbergh seems to have been an intensely private man, who loathed the press and rarely gave anything of himself away, even to those closest to him. His estate denied Mosley permission to quote from a great number of Lindbergh's own letters, particularly those dealing with his actions and opinions during WW2. That with these limitations Mosley managed to make this biography still intriguing and compelling is an admirable achievement.