McCullough has had a lifelong interest in aviation. That's what pulled me into doing the book.' Much of what has been written about the Wright brothers (in French) has been ignored. 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. 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. The book was on The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers list for seven weeks in 2015. It is a history of the American inventors and aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright.

Essential reading, this is 'a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished… The Wright Brothers soars' ( The New York Times Book Review ).The Wright Brothers is a 2015 non-fiction book written by the popular historian David McCullough and published by Simon & Schuster. He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.In this 'enjoyable, fast-paced tale' ( The Economist ), master historian David McCullough 'shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly' ( The Washington Post) and 'captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished' ( The Wall Street Journal ). That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity.

On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers-bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio-changed history. The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize-the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly-Wilbur and Orville Wright.

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough