On 14 June 1919 - eight years before Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic - two men from Manchester took off in an open-cockpit Vickers Vimy and flew into the history books. They battled through a sixteen-hour journey of snow, ice and continuous cloud, with a non-functioning wireless and a damaged exhaust that made it impossible to hear each other. And then, just five hours away from Ireland and high above the sea, the Vimy stalled. Yesterday We Were in America is the incredible story of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, and how they gave hope to a post-war world that was in grave need of it.

About the Author
A former racing cyclist and driver, Brendan Lynch has had a keen interest in aviation since he first heard the story of Alcock and Brown's exploits around a childhood fireside. He started research on this book after meeting Steve Fossett and witnessing the American's 2005 re-enactment of the flight in a replica Vimy. Brendan cannot fly but he once looped the loop in a Formula Ford race at Lydden circuit. Living equally dangerously on the ground, he was a pacifist disciple of Bertrand Russell and was imprisoned for Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament activities. Yesterday We Were in America is his eighth book. His first, Green Dust, won the Guild of Motoring Writers' Pierre Dreyfus Award.

Reviews
[An] engaging account of one of the most remarkable feats in aviation history
'Yesterday We Were in America' is a very fine book; I only wish I had written it -- Len Deighton
[A] popular account of Alcock and Brown's pioneering flight, which combines readability with accuracy



Book Information
ISBN 9780750990004
Author Brendan Lynch
Format Paperback
Imprint The History Press Ltd
Publisher The History Press Ltd