The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers is a 2015 non-fiction book written by the popular historian David McCullough and published by Simon & Schuster. It is a history of the American inventors and aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. The book was on The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers list for seven weeks in 2015. Production McCullough first became interested in writing a book on the Wright brothers while researching for his book The Greater Journey, which explored the history of various notable Americans who lived in Paris during the 19th century. In an interview with The Seattle Times, McCullough recalled, "I didn't know when (chronologically) I was going to end that book, and who do I run into in France but the Wright brothers." He continued, "I was delighted to find that Wilbur, at every chance, went to the Louvre to look at paintings, and the degree that he was moved by the great Gothic works of France was far beyond that of an ordinary tourist. [...] Much of what has been written about the Wright brothers (in French) has been ignored. That's what pulled me into doing the book." McCullough has had a lifelong interest in aviation. In an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent, he remarked, "I loved to make model airplanes when I was a young boy and I took flying lessons later on; I would have continued if they weren’t so expensive. But I have to say in all candor that I knew very little about [the Wright brothers]. I knew they were from Ohio, I knew they were bicycles mechanics, and I knew they invented the airplane. But I really didn’t know anything beyond that of any substance..." He added, "Once I got into their lives and into all that they went through and the truly admirable human qualities that they personified, I would have wanted to write the book even if they hadn't succeeded in inventing the flying machine." Reception The Wright Brothers has been praised by literary critics and historians. Janet Maslin of The New York Times described it as a "concise, exciting and fact-packed book [that] sees the easy segue between bicycling and aerial locomotion, which at that point was mostly a topic for bird fanciers and dreamers." She added, "Mr.