First published 2020
The Wright brothers flew three times in 1903 with no witnesses. Six years later, Wilbur Wright crosses the Atlantic to promote aviation and secure patent funding, sparking global enthusiasm for flight. That summer, champagne producers in France see an opportunity. They organize the first international aviation competition in Rheims, expecting to host an entertaining spectacle and boost sales. What they create instead transforms aviation forever. The Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne becomes the moment when flight moves from experimental curiosity to public obsession. Sandler reconstructs this pivotal week through period photographs, eyewitness testimonies, and detailed narrative. The book captures how a commercial venture designed to sell champagne accidentally launched the aviation age, turning pilots into celebrities and flight into the defining technology of the twentieth century.
Genres: history, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, 21st-century, aviation
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-events, technological-advancement
Setting: Rheims, France
Period: 1903, 1900s
192 pages · Hardcover · Bloomsbury Publishing