Lindbergh

By: A. Scott Berg

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Lindbergh was the first solo pilot to cross the Atlantic non-stop from New York to Paris, in 1927. This awe-inspiring fight made him the most celebrated men of his day-a romantic symbol of the new aviation age. However, tragedy struck in 1932, where his baby was kidnapped and found dead. The unbearable trial forced Lindbergh into exile in England and France. However, his soon fasciation and involvement with the Nazi regime, resulted in public opinion turning against him. His life was at the forefront of pioneering research in aeronautics and rocketry. Also, his wife became one of the century's leading feminist voices. This biography explores the 'golden couple who have been considered 'American royalty.

Too much hero worship by the author.

Berg may have not known of CAL’s
Double life in Germany. Apparently the Lindbergh children have acknowledged through DNA proof of their 1/2 siblings in Germany.

Fascinating revisit

I had read this several years ago, and it was a captivating story. This Audible revisit was a well spent credit, I had forgotten many of the remarkable details of the Lindbergh story. I highly recommended this volume to anyone wanting to hear about Lindbergh or Aviation, or early 20th century history. So many of the hero worshipers of today seem so similar to the ones in the early 20tj century.

Lindbergh was not a good person.

First a little rant about Charles A. Lindbergh, and then to the book. From the 1930s onward, Lindbergh was largely though not exclusively a terrible human being. He first engaged in moral equivalence between the Nazi's and the West, arguing that if America and Western Europe would just be more friendly this Nazi thing would have never become a problem. He was quick to defend Japanese in American internment camps, but never spoke of the plight of Jews in concentration camps. Though after America entered WWII Lindbergh did work to develop American air technology and he flew in several combat missions, it was accompanied by the criticism that the West had drug us into the war. America's fault again.

Earlier, Lindbergh silenced his wife's anguish over the death of their child and later mostly abandoned her through their marriage. But the real tell about how awesome Lindbergh was as a human was that he had 3 secret families and 7 illegitimate children in Europe who he also abandoned. This is not recounted in Berg's book, as it was proven shortly after publication.

As an aside, its a little mind-bending that Charles Lindbergh - whose famous aircraft had no windshield and was literally held together with chewing gum, met Neil Armstrong and was present to watch the launch of Apollo 11. In my mind, this is akin to John Adams playing paddleball with Tiger Woods. It just doesn't compute.

On to the book. It is an obviously extensively-researched account of Lindbergh's life going back to his predecessors. Narrator Lloyd James is a professional and you hear it. The trajectory of Lindbergh's life, and the manner in which is it recounted in the book, make for a very good listen. Mrs. Lindbergh's weakness, victimization and depression are on display as well. Did I love it? No. That's a high standard. I did like it and may listen again some day. And at 31 hours, you get your credit's worth both in quality and quantity.

In depth and amazingly interesting

A very detailed account of Charles Lindbergh and the Lindbergh family. Great story with all it's excitement and unfortunate tragedy. Very well read - use caution with the length however.

The details

I had no idea that Lindbergh did so much stuff. He was a genius more than a great flier