{"title":"Biography \u0026 Autobiography--Aviation \u0026 Nautical","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-navigators-letter-the-true-story-of-two-wwii-airmen-a-doomed-mission-and-the-woman-who-bound-them-together","title":"The Navigator's Letter: The True Story of Two WWII Airmen, a Doomed Mission, and the Woman Who Bound Them Together","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Navigator's Letter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e brings to light one of the best untold and dangerous stories of World War II, chronicling a moving and heroic story of patriotic duty, familial bonds, brotherhood, and love.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e One of the riskiest air raids of World War II occurred on August 1, 1943, over the oil fields at Ploesti, Romania--Nazi Germany's primary fuel source. The Allies believed that the destruction of Hitler's oil refineries would shorten the war. Using an untested strategy, it was worth the gamble, but the mission did not go according to plan--with 53 aircraft and 532 crewmen lost, it was the costliest US air raid of the war. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A true story, \u003ci\u003eThe Navigator's Letter \u003c\/i\u003eis a tale of uncanny coincidences: two friends from the same small Illinois town; both joined the Air Corps; both became navigators; both were assigned to B-24 Liberators; both flew missions over Europe; both of their planes were forced down over Ploesti; and both went missing-in-action. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Intertwined with events of WWII, the story follows the two B-24 navigators coursing through wartime, both with ties to the same woman. Their lives unfurl with the Air Force's darkest day, Operation Tidal Wave. It was the first-ever zero-altitude air raid, which lead to Operation Reunion, the largest evacuation by air in history repatriating 1,162 POWs from Romania back to American air bases in Italy.\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1454956356\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781454956358\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Dondi, Jan Cress, N\/A, N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Union Square \u0026amp; Co.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Union Square \u0026 Co.","offers":[{"title":"HardCover (Feb 2026)","offer_id":45657513132229,"sku":"9781454956358","price":32.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781454956358.jpg?v=1768892256"},{"product_id":"titan-unfinished-an-untold-story-of-exploration-innovation-and-the-oceangate-tragedy","title":"Titan Unfinished: An Untold Story of Exploration, Innovation, and the Oceangate Tragedy","description":"\u003cb\u003eA firsthand, never-before-told account of the creation of OceanGate, the heartbreaking \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTitan \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003etragedy and the supposed villain behind it all, Stockton Rush, as told by the only person who can: his cofounder and friend.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the summer of 2023, the entire world fixated on a single news story that captured every headline on every media outlet: the search and rescue operation for OceanGate's \u003ci\u003eTitan \u003c\/i\u003eresearch submersible, and the ultimate tragic fate of its five crew members. The media frenzy was fueled by many captivating storylines, but its primary focus was the villain at the center of it all, Stockton Rush: cofounder and CEO of OceanGate, and the ill-fated vessel's pilot and designer. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But was Stockton Rush truly the arrogant, rule-breaking, risk-taking con man the media insisted he was? Or was he a visionary altruistic technologist, philanthropist, and investor, someone willing to put his own personal wealth and life on the line in the name of exploring our planet's deep oceans? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eTitan Unfinished \u003c\/i\u003eis more than a recounting of the events that led to the tragedy--it's an up-close, personal account of Stockton's journey, from the conception of OceanGate to his sudden death, told by one of the few people who was with Rush from the very start. Fellow cofounder Guillermo Sohnlein examines the full humanity of the man behind OceanGate's ambitious mission and offers insights extending far beyond the attention-grabbing headlines, detailing Rush's temperament, motivations, and tendencies, as well as the technology, operations, and key events at play in a story that has thus far been massively oversimplified. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Told by an insider with the deepest knowledge, and honoring the legacies of all those involved in the fatal accident, \u003ci\u003eTitan Unfinished\u003c\/i\u003e paints the full picture of an important but deeply misunderstood story. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eA portion of author proceeds will be donated to charitable organizations.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1637747675\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781637747674\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Söhnlein, Guillermo A. 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As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds. Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists and engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. Filled with telling personal anecdotes and high adventure, with narratives from the CIA and from Air Force pilots who flew the many classified, risky missions, this book is a riveting portrait of the most spectacular aviation triumphs of the twentieth century. \u003cb\u003e\"Thoroughly engrossing.\" --\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0316743003\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780316743006\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Janos, Leo, Rich, Ben R., N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Back Bay Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Back Bay Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Feb 1996)","offer_id":45658044399813,"sku":"9780316743006","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780316743006.jpg?v=1768897428"},{"product_id":"queen-of-the-skies-the-inspiring-story-of-bessie-coleman","title":"Queen of the Skies: The Inspiring Story of Bessie Coleman","description":"\u003cp\u003eBefore our beloved aviators, like Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh soared into our hearts, there was Bessie Coleman. Bessie Coleman was the first African American and Native American woman to receive her pilot's license. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eQueen of the Skies is an intimate portrait of Bessie Coleman, told in collaboration with the family from their perspective. From her humble upbringing picking cotton in Waxahachie, Texas at the turn of the century, Bessie never gave up on her aviation dreams, despite all the odds against her. She made her way to Chicago and learned French, and then moved overseas to France to learn how to fly as she faced many obstacles in the US. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer story is an inspiring tale of hope, inspiration and determination of a woman whose very existence in aviation defied the injustice and racism of the time. Bessie continues to inspire aviators today. Here is the story of her deepest desires, the people she loved, the determination behind each milestone, and how she succeeded in changing aviation forever with her indomitable spirit. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1961600420\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781961600423\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Powell, Beth, Coleman, Gigi, Walton, Stephen\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Fig Factor Media Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Fig Factor Media Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Jan 2025)","offer_id":45658101547205,"sku":"9781961600423","price":23.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781961600423.jpg?v=1768898226"},{"product_id":"why-fly-seeking-awe-healing-and-our-true-selves-in-the-sky","title":"Why Fly: Seeking Awe, Healing, and Our True Selves in the Sky","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the\u003ci\u003e New York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author Caroline Paul, a thrilling, gravity-defying book that takes us skyward to explore the art of aeronautics-and the depths of the human heart. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFlying has long represented the beautiful, high-stakes human drive to invent, to explore, to experience. Caroline Paul has known this since becoming a pilot at twenty years old. Now she's in her fifties, and her long-term marriage is dissolving beneath her. She begins to fly a gyrocopter. Isn't it easier to learn a landing than a human heart? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Paul examines the descent of love through the ascent of flight, she turns her eye to the history, the physics, and the deep impact of flying on others. From the brave Night Witches who flew biplanes against the Nazis, to the ultralight pilots who believe they can save endangered birds by becoming one of the flock, to the many people afraid to step onto a passenger plane, \u003ci\u003eWhy Fly\u003c\/i\u003e examines the ways flight, like love, confounds and yet transforms us. Often we soar. But we also crash land. Still, we want to fly. 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TIGHAR investigators had no agenda. They were not out to advocate, excuse, honor, or impugn. They saw the Earhart disappearance as an aviation accident and reasoned the answer to its cause and outcome should be discoverable if they could find, assemble, and analyze the relevant data. To understand why she died it was necessary to strip away the myths and sentimentality that have grown up over the years and examine the hard truths behind how Earhart's trip around the world came about and why it went so terribly wrong. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard were major players in the 1937 flight, disappearance, and search for Amelia Earhart, and in the aftermath. The story of the pressures and frustrations the services faced and the mistakes they made contain valuable lessons for today's commanders. Gillespie's first book, \u003ci\u003eFinding Amelia - The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance\u003c\/i\u003e (Naval Institute Press, 2006) chronicled what was known at that time. 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Having captivated imaginations for more than three hundred years and inspired many stories about pirates, troubling questions remain. Was he really a criminal or is the truth more inconvenient: that he was a buccaneer's worst nightmare, a revered pirate hunter turned fall guy for scheming politicians? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eCaptain Kidd\u003c\/i\u003e, his ninth-great-grandson, bestselling author Samuel Marquis, reveals the real story. Kidd was an English American privateer and leading New York husband and father. The King of England himself dubbed Kidd \"trusty and well-beloved,\" and some historians describe him as a \"worthy, honest-hearted, steadfast, much -enduring sailor\" who was the \"victim of a deliberate travesty of justice.\" With honors far more esteemed than the menacing Blackbeard, or any other sea rover at the turn of the seventeenth century, how can Kidd be considered both gentleman and pirate, both hero and villain? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarquis' biography recreates Kidd's perilous world of explosive naval warfare and the daring integrity he exemplified as a pirate hunter, as well as the political scandal that entangled Kidd in British-American history, rocking the New World and the Old, and threatening England's valuable trade with India. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eCaptain Kidd \u003c\/i\u003eis both thrilling and tragic. 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Her experiences and emotions during her launches and space travel echoed those of her father during his combat missions, highlighting the unshakable bond between father and daughter. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With \u003ci\u003eAir Born\u003c\/i\u003e, you can join in on a flight through history as Jan Davis relates her father's heroic service and draws connections between his combat missions and her own spaceflights. Discover the ins and outs of pilot training in the 1940s alongside Ben Smotherman and bear witness to his harrowing capture, interrogation, and imprisonment at Stalag Luft III. Rejoice with the POWs as World War II finally ends and the prisoners are returned home to continue pursuing their life's goals. Shadow Jan Davis as she expertly navigates a career characterized by space exploration, scientific experimentation, and phenomenal feats of engineering. And draw inspiration from the intersection of two completely different yet uniquely connected worlds brought together by a common link of family and flying.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1955026769\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781955026765\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Davis, Jan\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Ballast Books\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Ballast Books","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (Sep 2023)","offer_id":46081849262277,"sku":"9781955026765","price":28.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781955026765.jpg?v=1776049915"},{"product_id":"shatter-the-sky","title":"Shatter The Sky","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Merryl Tengesdal, has become one of the most interesting and compelling maverick women in aviation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this inspirational memoir, retired Colonel Merryl Tengesdal shares her Life Lessons on everything from her career in the military, being the first and only black woman to pilot the U2 aircraft, to marriage and motherhood - and everything in between.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book is a deep reflection on life in the military, with mesmerizing storytelling. Merryl invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood in the Bronx, to her years deployed in the Middle East, South America, and Asia, to her experience on the hit reality show Tough As Nails. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her life as she lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. With wisdom and warmth, Shatter the Sky is the deeply personal story of a woman of substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 1737907313\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9781737907312\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Tengesdal, Merryl, Keoghan, Phil, Thompson, Lance\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Merryl Tengesdal\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Merryl Tengesdal","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Nov 2021)","offer_id":46100238237893,"sku":"9781737907312","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9781737907312.jpg?v=1776648476"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/collections\/biography-autobiography-aviation-nautical.oembed","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}