The Year of the Flying Machine, contrary to it's title, is not just about the invention of the air plane by the Wright brothers and their first flight. It's about the most important technological, medical, political, and economical advancements of the first 10 years of the 20th century. Events and inventions such as Guglielmo Marconi's wireless telegraph, the Wright brothers' first flight, the building of the Panama Canal, Marie and Pierre Curie's discovery of radium, Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, and Robert Peary's trips to the Arctic circle are some of the things the books highlights. There are illustrations that accompany and compliment most of the chapters, giving sight to some of the scientific aspects of the book. It is well written and great for younger audiences. This book is one of a series by Genevieve Foster and is a great little book for a classroom. ( )

The Year of the Flying Machine, by Genevieve Foster, is a narrative retelling of the historic decade following the turn of the century. She weaves a tale beginning the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop and moves from Teddy Roosevelt to Robert Peary & Matthew Henson to Carl Jung & Sigmund Freud. She crosses world giving a short history of the early 1900's.

The author deserves credit for including a few topics that usually get overlooked in this time period. This first are the contributions of Marie and Pierre Curie, the second is the tale of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud (usually only Freud is mentioned, if at all), and the Chinese Boxer Rebellion. While the causes of the Boxer Rebellion are not mentioned (opium, British influence, etc), its inclusion helps round out a book that could otherwise have been yet another history of the Western World.

The only major fault with this book is an inaccuracy concerning the story of the "teddy bear". The author attributes the origin to a bear cub sent to President Roosevelt after a hunting trip to Louisiana. The actual story involves a hunting trip to Mississippi in 1902 where a small bear cub was cornered and tied to a tree. Mr Roosevelt refused to shoot it and the toy maker Morris Michtom saw the political cartoon that immortalized the moment and sent a small stuffed bear to the President to get his permission to name it after him. The author's lack of research was disappointing.

The author, to her credit, expertly tells the history of communism and Soviet Russia without so much as a hint of superiority, condescension, or irony. This even-handed approach to such a volatile topic in American history books is much appreciated and Foster deserves at least a short round of applause.

This book is fairly dated (1977),includes an index, but no bibliography or further reading. It is recommended for ages 8&Up. ( )

NA